UNiVERSlTY  )) 

OF       ^    J 

caufor^v^ 


u 


,ifii 


JUNIUS  UNMASKED:  • 


OB, 


THOMAS  PAINE 


THE  AUTHOR  OF 


THE    LETTERS    OF    JUNIUS, 


AND  THE 


DECLARATION  OF  INDEPENDENCE. 


Nbn  atat  diutiua  nominis  umbra. 


/X-^ 


WASHINGTON,  D.C.: 
JOHN   GRAY   &  CO.,   PUBLISHERS. 

1872. 


Entered  according  to  Act  «)t  Congress,  in  the  year  1871,  by 

JOHN    GRAY    &   CO., 
In  tlie  Offlce  of  tlie  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Wasliington. 


PREFACE. 


One  hundred  years  ago  to-day,  Junius  wrote  as  follows: 
"The  man  who  fairly  and  completely  answers  this  argu- 
ment, shall  have  my  thanks  and  my  applause.  .  .  . 
Grateful  as  I  am  to  th^good  Being  whose  bounty  has 
imparted  to  me  this  reasoning  intellect,  whatever  it  is,  I 
hold  myself  proportionably  indebted  to  him  from  whose 
enlightened  understanding  another  ray  of  knowledge  com- 
municates to  mine.  But  neither  should  I  think  the  most 
exalted  faculties  of  the  human  mind  a  gift  worthy  of  the 
Divinity,  nor  any  assistance  in  the  improvement  of  them 
a  subject  of  gratitude  to  my  fellow-creatures,  if  I  were  not 
satisfied  that  really  to  inform  the  understanding  corrects 
and  enlarges  the  heart." 

These  were  the  concluding  words  of  his  last  Letter.  So 
say  I  now,  and  I  make  them  the  preface  to  an  argument 
which  now  sets  the  great  apostle  of  liberty  right  before  the 
world.  They  serve,  like  a  literary  hyphen,  to  connect 
the  two  ages — his  own  with  this;  and  the  two  lives — the 
masked  with  the  open  one;  in  both  of  which  ages  and 
lives  he  did  good  to  mankind,  and  that  mightily. 

Washington,  D.  C,  January  21,  1872. 


M34S0ic8 


PA_RT    I. 


INTRODUCTION. 

The  literary  work  which  survives  a  century  has  un- 
common merit.  Time  has  set  the  seal  of  approval  upon 
it.  It  has  passed  its  probation  and  entered  the  ages. 
A  century  has  just  closed  upon  the  work  of  Junius. 
The  causes  which  produced  it,  either  in  act  or  person, 
have  long  since  passed  away.  The  foolish  king,  the 
corrupt  minister,  and  the  prostituted  legislature  are  for- 
gotten, or  only  recalled  to  be  ^despised ;  but  the  work 
of  Junius,  startling  in  thought,  daring  in  design,  bris- 
tling with  satire,  a  consuming  fire  to  those  he  attacked, 
remains  to  be  admired  for  its  principles,  and  to  be 
studied  for  its  beauty  and  strength. 

The  times  in  which  Junius  wrote  were  big  with 
events.  The  Seven  Years'  War  had  just  closed  with 
shining  victories  to  Prussia  and  England.  Frederic, 
with  an  unimpaired  nation  and  a  permanent  peace,  it 
left  with  a  good  heart  and  much  personal  glory;  but 
George  III.,  with  India  and  America  in  his  hands,  with 
the  plunder  of  a  great  conquest  to  distribute  to  a  greedy 
and  licentious  court,  it  left  pious,  but  simple. 

Great  wars  disturb  the  masses.     They  awaken  them 

(7) 


8  JUNIUS  UNMASKED, 

from  the  plodding,  dull  routine  of  physical  labor,  and, 
thrusting  great  questions  of  conquest  and  defense,  of 
justice  and  honor,  before  them,  agitate  them  into 
thought.  Conditions  change;  new  ideas  take  the  place 
of  old  ones,  and  a  revolution  in  thought  and  action  fol- 
lows. But  a  war  of  ideas,  starting  from  principles  of 
peace,  brings  the  enslaved  again  to  the  sword,  and  this 
crisis  is  termed  a  revolution. 

Junius  wrote  at  the  dawn  of  the  age  of  revolutions. 
The  war  of  ideas  was  waged  against  priestcraft,  and 
skepticism  was  the  result.  Voltaire  had  struck  fable 
from  history  with  the  pen  of  criticism,  and  a  scientific 
method  here  dawned  upon  history.  Rousseau's  democ- 
racy had  entered  the  hearts  of  the  down-trodden  in 
France,  and,  a  wandering  exile,  he  had  spread  the  con- 
tagion in  England.  George  Berkeley,  the  Irish  idealist, 
had  just  died,  and  the  Scotch  Thomas  Reid  arose  with 
the  weapon  of  common  sense  to  test  the  metaphysician's 
ideas.  Common  Sense* was,  in  the  strictest  s6nse,  revo- 
lutionary, and,  under  the  tyranny  of  king,  lords,  and 
commons,  meant  war.  It  was  not  a  phrase  without 
meaning,  but  a  principle  proclaimed,  and  it  passed  more 
readily  into  the  understanding  of  the  common  people 
because  conveyed  in  common  speech.  "When  Reid  said, 
"I  despise  philosophy,  and  renounce  its  guidance;  let 
my  soul  dwell  in  common  sense,"  he  ilhiminated  all 
Britain  and  America.  The  philosophy  of  common  sense 
entered  the  professor's  chair,  invaded  the  i)ulpit,  and, 
having  passed  thence  into  the  humblest  cottage,  soon 
took  a  higher  range — it  went  immetliately  up  and 
knocked  at  the  king's  gate.  It  would  be  false  to  say  it 
found  admittance  there.    It  was  only  because  there  had 


INTROD  UQTION.  9 

been  a  new  world  opened  as  an  asylum  for  the  oppressed 
of  every  land,  that  it  did  not  sweep  kings  and  monarchs 
from  all  the  high  places  in  Europe. 

At  this  time,  too,  Mr.  Pitt,  the  great  commoner,  the 
friend  of  common  sense  and  English  liberty,  in  his  old 
age,  war-worn  and  sick,  had  compromised  with  his 
vanity  for  a  title.  In  his  great  fall  from  Pitt  to  Chat- 
ham, from  the  people  to  a  peerage,  he  gained  nothing 
but  lost  his  good  name.  He  exchanged  worth  for  a 
bauble,  and  a  noble  respect  for  the  contempt  of  nobles 
and  the  sorrows  of  the  people.  Mr.  Pitt  had  departed, 
Lord  Chatham  was  passing  away;  and  in  any  assault 
by  a  trafficking  ministry  and  corrupt  legislature  upon 
the  people's  rights,  there  was  no  one  left  to  bend  the 
bow  at  the  gates. 

To  tax  the  colonies  became  the  settled  plan  of  king, 
ministers,  and  parliament.  The  tax  was  easily  imposed, 
but  could  not  be  enforced.  Freedom  had  long  before 
been  driven  to  America,  and,  in  a  line  of  direct  descent, 
her  blood  had  been  transmitted  from  mother  to  son. 
The  true  sons  of  freedom  now  stood  shoulder  to  shoul- 
der, and,"  looking  forward  to  independence,  claimed  to 
have  rights  as  men,  which  king  and  lords  would  not 
concede  to  subjects.  The  Stamp  Act  was  passed  and 
repealed,  and  a  Test  Act  substituted.  England  refused 
to  compel  the  colonies  to  give  up  their  money  without 
their  consent,  but  menaced  them,  and  consoled  herself 
with  these  words :  "  The  Icing  in  parliament  hath  full 
power  to  hind  the  colonies  in  all  things  whatsoever.'^ 
Having  surrendered  the  fact,  she  indulged  in  declama- 
tion, and  the  world  laughed  at  her  folly.  Like  a  fretful 
and  stupid  mother  demanding  a  favor  of  her  son  grown 


10  JUNIUS  UNMASKED. 

to  manhood,  and,  being  refused,  persists  in  scolding  and 
shaking  the  fist  at  him,  as  if  he  still  wore  a  baby^s  frock. 
At  this  juncture  Junius  wrote  his  Letters.  The  cir- 
cunjstances  called  him  forth.  He  was  a  child  of  fate. 
He  spoke  to  the  greatest  personages,  assaulted  the 
strongest  power,  and  advocated  the  rights  of  man  before 
the  highest  tribunal  then  acknowledged  on  earth.  Tliis 
he  could  not  do  openly,  and  what  he  said  came  as  with 
the  power  of  a  hidden  god.  There  is  no  evidence  that 
Junius  ever  revealed  himself  "I  am  the  sole  deposi- 
tory of  my  own  secret,  and  it  shall  perish  with  me." 
This  he  said  and  religiously  kept.  But  his  was  the  age 
which  demanded  it.  He  also  said:  "  Whenever  Junius 
appears,  he  must  encounter  a  host  of  enemies."  One 
hundred  years  have  passed  since  he  said  this,  but  this 
"host"  is  less  to  be  feared  now  than  when  he  wrote. 
No  one  now  can  injure  him,  and  there  are  few  who 
would  assault  his  grave.  It  is  time  to  unmask  Junius, 
and  though  still  to  be  hated,  I  will  reveal  the  enemy  of 
kings  and  the  friend  of  man.  The  reforms  he  advocated 
for  England  are  partly  accomplished,  and  the  principles 
he  taught,  if  not  adopted  there,  have  been  established 
in  America.  He. left  no  child  to  bear  his  name,  but  he 
was  the  father  of  a  nation.  The  unimpaired  inheritance 
was  his  thoughts  and  principles;  these  he  transmitted, 
not  alone  to  this  nation,  but  to  the  world— /or  the  world 
was  his  country. 


METHOD. 

In  the  investigation  of  a  subject  so  startling  and 
novel,  and  especially  when  it  leads  to  the  criticism  of  a 
work  which  has  found  favor  with  the  public,  and  now 
to  be  attributed  to  an  author  who  has  been  publicly 
condemned,  it  becomes  the  critic  to  state  clearly  the  plan 
of  his  argument,  what  he  designs  to  do,  and  how  he 
intends  to  do  it.  I  therefore  ask:  Who  w^as  Junius? 
I  answer:  Thomas  Paine.  The  object  of  this  book  is 
to  prove  this,  and  possibly  to  demonstrate  it.  To  do 
this,  I  shall  follow  as  closely  as  possible  the  order  of 
events,  giving  parallels  and  coincidences  in  character, 
conduct,  and  composition  of  the  masked  and  the  open 
life. 

I  do  not  fear  as  to  the  proof  of  my  proposition,  but 
I  shall  aim  higher,  I  shall  try  to  demonstrate  by  the 
overwhelming  weight  of  facts.  Proof  produces  belief, 
demonstration  knowledge.  The  innocent  have  been 
hanged  on  the  evidence  of  proof,  but  a  fact  is  established 
by  demonstration.  Demonstration  follows  proof,  and 
knowledge  follows  belief;  and  ascending  from  the  indi- 
vidual to  mankind,  we  find  the  age  of  reason  to  succeed 
the  age  of  faith.  Science  dwells  in  demonstration,  and 
establishes  principles  from  observed  facts.  Why  may 
there  not  be  a  scientific  criticism?     To  arrive  at  this 

(11) 


12  JUNIUS  UNMASKED. 

the  writer  must  ascend  to  that  eminence  in  feeling  where 
the  opposing  prejudices  of  mankind  can  not  reach  him; 
he  must  rise  above  praise  or  censure,  he  must  dwell 
alone  in  the  light  of  reason,  he  must  be  a  child  of 
Truth.  Vain,  however,  would  it  be  to  expect  to  find 
himself  or  a  public  devoid  of  ])rejudice.  This  is  im- 
possible, for  prejudice  is  produced  by  strong  conviction. 
It  is  a  feeling  which,  like  a  magnet,  j)oints  as  the  elec- 
tric force  directs.  To  counteract  this  force  is  to  destroy 
the  magnet.  It  is  those  who  think  deeply,  and  have 
investigated  thoroughly,  who  have  an  enlightened  pre- 
nidice,  and  those  who  take  upon  authority  what  others 
tell  tliem,  who  have  a  blind  prejudice;  but  those  who 
neither  think  nor  investigate  for  themselves  may  truly 
be  said  to  have  no  prejudice.  My  object  is  to  convince 
the  understanding  and  thereby  build  up  a  prejudice  in 
favor  of  my  proposition,  which  shall  have  a  foundation 
of  fact  and  argument,  not  to  be  removed,  and  to  be  but 
little  disturbed.  The  world  is  my  jury,  they  shall 
decide  upon  the  facts.  Lord  Bacon  gave  the  world  a 
method,  this  method  is  also  mine:  Let  FACTS  REYEAL 
THE  INWARD  TRUTH  OF  NATURE. 


MYSTERY. 

There  is  a  scarcity  of  facts,  a  painful  obscurity 
connected  with  that  part  of  Mr.  Paine's  life  before  he 
removed  to  America.  In  fact,  liistory  has  given  him  to 
the  world,  as  almost  beginning  life  on  his  arrival  at 
Philadelj)hia,  near  the  close  of  the  year  1774.  At  this 
time,  in  the  full  stature  of  manhood,  a  little  less  than 
forty  years  of  age,  we  find  him  without  a  personal  his- 
tory, without  any  events  in  life  sufficient  to  predicate 
his  after  life  upon.  Can  the  great  life  to  come  rest  on 
nothing?  How  came  that  mighty  mind  so  fully  stored 
w^ith  history,  so  deeply  analytic,  so  skilled  in  literature 
and  science,  so  perfect,  in  the  art  of  expressing  ideas,  so 
highly  disciplined  and  finely  equipped,  ready  to  do 
battle  against  kings  and  ministers  and  in  behalf  of  hu- 
man rights?  Whence  came  that  mighty  pen,  which 
has  often  been  acknowledged  to  have  done  more  for 
human  freedom  than  the  sword  of  Washington  ?  Why 
this  dumb  silence  of  history?  There  comes  to  us  no 
thought  of  Mr.  Paine  worth  recording  prior  to  this  time. 
The  proud  and  imposing  superstructure  stands  on  a 
basis  fit  and  substantia],  but  it  rises  out  of  the  depths 
of  mystery.  And  what  little  we  do  know  of  him  prior 
to  this  time,  aside  from  the  great  fact  of  his  birth,  is 
only  a  series  of  minor  facts,  with  great  blanks  not  even 
capable  of  being  filled  up  by  the  imagination. 

(13) 


14  JUNIUS  UNMASKED. 

When  a  lad  he  went  to  school,  but  how  long  he  went, 
or  with  what  proficiency  he  studied,  nobody  knows. 
At  sixteen  he  went  aboard  a  privateer,  but  how  long 
he  served,  or  what  made  him  quit  the  service,  nobody 
knows.  At  twenty-seven  he  enters  the  employ  of  the 
English  government  as  an  exciseman,  but  was  dismissed 
in  a  little  over  a  year,  nobody  knows  why.  He  now 
teaches  school  in  London  a  year,  but  nobody  knows 
with  what  success,  or  what  were  his  accomplishments. 
He  now  quits  London  and  letters,  and  the  society  of 
the  learned,  to  return  to  the  same  petty  office  from 
which  he  had  been  dismissed,  and  for  the  trifling  salary 
of  less  than  fifty  pounds  a  year.  This  office  he  now 
holds  eight  years  more.  Only  a  solitary  ray  of  light 
illuminates  this  long  period,  when  in  the  full  tide  of 
life.  The  chronicler  renders  it  insignificant  by  a  sin- 
gle dash  of  the  pen.  It  is  closed  with  another  dis- 
missal and  dismal  mystery.  He  now  forever  separates 
from  his  wife  upon  amicable  termSy  nobody  knows  why. 
During  their  after  lives  they  neither  of  them  marry, 
and  never  speak  disrespectfully  of  each  other.  He 
leaves  her  all  the  property,  and  often  sends  her  money 
during  his  after  life.  This  obscure  and  twice  dis- 
missed English  exciseman,  it  is  said,  now  goes  to  talk 
with  Benjamin  Franklin,  minister  at  the  court  of  St. 
James,  for  several  of  the  colonies;  and,  by  what  means 
nobody  knows,  obtains  letters  of  the  highest  com- 
mendation, as  an  introduction  to  America,  from  her 
greatest  and  most  honored  citizen.  A  few  months 
afterward  Benjamin  Franklin  places  iu  the  hands  of 
Mr.  Paine  important  documents,  for  him  to  write  a 
history  of  the  political  troubles  and  a  defense  of  the 


MYSTERY.  15 

colonies.  A  mighty  work,  worthy  of  a  greater  than 
Franklin !  These  facts  stagger  credulity.  An  ob- 
scure English  exciseman, -whose  life  is  yet  a  blank, 
who  has  never  been  an  author,  save  perhaps  of  some 
fugitive  pamphlet  to  demand  more  pay  for  excise  of- 
ficers, is  introduced  to  America,  and  is  solicited  and  in- 
trusted by  Americans  greatest  writer,  thinker,  patriot, 
and  statesman,  to  do  Americans  greatest  work,  and  tliat 
work,  too,  which  shall  decide  forever  the  fate  of  a 
world.  Franklin  !  by  what  mysterious  gift  of  divina- 
tion hast  thou  found  thy  man  ?  Is  there  no  child  of 
America  among  all  the  sons  of  Freedom  equal  to  the 
task  ?  Where  art  thou  thyself?  But  the  man  Frank- 
lin found  had  no  need  of  books  or  his  documents. 
This  obscure  Englishman  had  the  facts  in  his  memory, 
the  wrongs  in  his  heart,  the  logic  in  his  reason,  and 
he  thought  for  himself.  His  work  was  half  written 
before  Franklin  had  furnished  him  with  the  "  neces- 
sary papers,^^  and  as  a  New  Year's  gift  surprised  the 
learned  doctor  with  the  first  pamphlet  of  Common 
Sense. 

The  appearance  of  this  greatest  of  political  works 
which  has  blessed  a  world,  with  all  the  attending  cir- 
cumstances— the  obscure  life  of  Paine,  the  few  wild 
events  connected  with  it,  the  unprecedented  action  of 
Franklin,  the  introduction  to  the  world  of  a  profound 
thinker  and  almost  perfect  writer  in  ih^  full  ripeness  of 
his  intellect,  and  the  beginning  of  an  unceasing  brilliant 
literary  life  at  its  meridian^  are  mysteries,  save  in  this 
instance,  unknown  to  history.  Common  Sense  is  a 
child  of  mystery.  It  is  the  best  of  this  great  author's 
productions.     He  himself  so  considered  it,  for  he  directs 


16  JUNIUS  UNMASKED, 

that  his  tombstone  shall  bear  the  simple  inscription, 
Thomas  Painp:,  author  of  Common  Sense. 

That  Thomas  Paine  should  have  lived  an  easy,  idle 
life,  without  any  great  effort  in  thought,  study,  or  com- 
position, for  fifteen  years  immediately  preceding  the 
appearance  of  Common  Sense,  is  what  no  writer,  or 
thinker,  or  student,  or  statesman  will  believe.  Great 
works  of  genius  do  not  come  in  this  way,  much  less 
profound  political  writings.  Even  inspiration  would 
desert  the  connection.  And  that  the  proud,  ambitious, 
literary  adventurer,  who  shall  dedicate  his  life  to  the 
good  of  mankind,  who  shall  wrest  the  power  from 
priests  and  the  scepter  from  kings,  should  content  him- 
self to  fill  a  poor  and  petty  office  under  a  king  he 
despised,  without  some  nobler  object  in  view,  and  at 
that  age  too  when  the  mind  of  man  is  the  most  aspir- 
ing, and  drives  to  the  greatest  activity,  is  what  no  one 
who  knows  the  heart  of  man,  and  the  secret  springs  of 
action,  will  believe.  But  if  it  can  be  proven  that 
Thomas  Paine  was  Junius,  then  will  every  blank  be 
filled  and  every  mystery  dispelled. 

There  is  no  external  evidence,  direct  in  its  nature,  as 
to  the  authorship  of  Junius;  the  evidence  is  internal. 
That  the  secret  did  not  perish  with  Junius,  no  one  can 
gainsay.  But  that  he  told  it  to  no  one,  we  are  not  at 
liberty  to  conclude.  Time  has  sufficiently  removed  us 
from  the  scene  of  conflict.  We  are  not  bewildered  with 
a  multitude  of  claimants,  with  an  army  of  witnesses 
for  and  against ;  nor  are  we  disturb(;d  by  the  clamors  of 
the  public,  and  the  hearsay  evidence  of  belligerents.  In 
this  univei-sal  calm  1  will  ))ring  Junius  forth  to  speak 
for  himself. 


STATEMENT. 

The  time  occupied  in  writing  the  Letters  of  Jun- 
ius was  just  three  years.  The  first  one  is  dated  Jan- 
uary 21,  1769,  and  the  last  one  January  21,  1772. 
They  were  written  for  the  Public  Advertiser^  a  news- 
paper printed  in  London,  and  were  afterward  revised 
and  corrected  by  Junius.  The  edition  which  he  cor- 
rected "contains  all  the  letters  of  Junius,  Philo  Junius, 
and  of  Sir  William  Draper,  and  Mr.  Home  to  Junius, 
with  their  respective  dates,  and  according  to  the  order 
in  which  they  appeared  in  the  Publie  Advertiser.'^ 
There  are  seventy-eight  in  all.  Of  these,  Junius  wrote 
sixty;  thirty  the  first  year,  five  the  second,  and  twenty- 
five  the  third  year.  In  these  Letters  Junius  fre- 
quently defends  himself  over  the  signature  of  Philo 
Junius,  which  he  deemed  indispensably  necessary  in 
answer  to  plausible  objections.  On  this  point  Junius 
observes;  "The  subordinate  character  is  never  guilty 
of  the  indecorum  of  praising  his  principal.  The  fraud 
was  innocent,  and  I  always  intended  to  explain  it." 
These  letters  were  an  attack  upon  the  king  and  minis- 
try, and  a  defense  of  the  people,  whose  original  rights 
had  been  invaded.  If  Thomas  Paine  wrote  them,  he 
was  then  an  exciseman  stationed  at  Lewes,  about  forty 

(17) 


18  JUNIUS  UNMASKED.  * 

miles  south  of  London,  and  was  just  thirty-live  years 
old  when  he  completed  them. 

I  will  now  introduce  to  the  reader  Junius  himself 
through  his  first  letter,  which  was  one  of  his  most  fin- 
ished productions,  and  contains  the  germs  of  all  the 
rest.  I  will  give  also  the  comments  of  Chauncey  A. 
Goodrich,  D.  D.,  formerly  professor  of  Rhetoric  in 
Yale  College.  These  conmients  are  to  be  found  in  the 
doctor's  work,  entitled  British  Eloquence,  I  do  this 
for  two  reasons:  to  let  the  reader  see  what  high  value 
is  placed  on  Junius  by  the  learned  who  teach  eloquence 
by  example,  and  also  that  he  may  see  the  object,  method, 
and  style  of  Junius.  I  shall  afterward  add  my  own 
comments  on  the  doctor's  notes,  setting  liim  right  when 
in  error  in  matters  o^  fact.  This  will  fully  open  the 
question  and  prepare  the  reader  for  my  argument. 


LETTER 

TO  THE  PRINTER  OF  THE  PUBLIC  ADVERTISER* 

Sir, — The  submission  of  a  free  people  to  the  execu- 
tive authority  of  government  is  no  more  than  a  com- 
pliance with  laws  which  they  themselves  have  enacted. 
While  the  national  honor  is  firmly  maintained  abroad, 
and  while  justice  is  impartially  administered  at  home, 

*  1.  Dated  January  21,  1769.  There  is  a  great  regu- 
larity in  the  structure  of  this  letter.  Th.e  first  two 
paragraphs  contain  the  exordium.  The  transition  fol- 
lows in  the  third  paragraph,  leading  to  the  main 
proposition,  which  is  contained  in  the  fourth,  viz., 
"  that  the  existing  discontent  and  disasters  of  the  nation 
were  justly  chargeable  on  the  king  and  ministry/^ 
The  next  eight  paragraphs  are  intended  to  give  the 
proof  of  the  proposition,  by  reviewing  the  chief  depart- 
ments of  government,  and  endeavoring  to  show  the 
incompetency  or  raal-administration  of  the  men  to 
whom  they  were  intrusted.  A  recapitulation  follows 
in  the  last  paragraph  but  one,  leading  to  a  restatement 
of  the  pro])osition  in  still  broader  terms.  This  is 
strengthened  in  the  conclusion  by  the  remark,  that  if 
the  nation  should  escape  from  its  desperate  condition 
through  some  signal  interposition  of  Divine  Provi- 
dence, posterity  would  not  believe  the  history  of  the 
times,  or  consider  it  possible  that  England  should  have 
survived  a  crisis  "  so  full  of  terror  and  despair." 
2  (19) 


20  JUNIUS  UNMASKED. 

the  obedience  of  the  subject  will  be  voluntary,  cheerful, 
and,  I  might  say,  almost  unlimited.  A  generous  nation 
is  grateful  even  for  the  preservation  of  its  rights,  and 
"willingly  extends  the  respect  due  to  the  office  of  a  good 
prince  into  an  affection  for  his  person.  Loyalty,  in 
the  heart  and  understanding  of  an  Englishman,  is  a 
rational  attachment  to  the  guardian  of  the  laws.  Prej- 
udices and  passion  have  sometimes  carried  it  to  a 
criminal  length,  and,  whatever  foreigners  may  imagine, 
we  know  that  Englishmen  have  erred  as  much  in  a 
mistaken  zeal  for  particular  persons  and  families,  as 
they  ever  did  in  defense  of  what  they  thought  most 
dear  and  interesting  to  themselves. 

It  naturally  fills  us  with  resentment  to  see  such  a 
temper  insulted  and  abused.*     In  reading  the  history 

*  2.  "We  have  here  the  starting  point  of  the  exordium, 
as  it  lay  originally  in  the  mind  of  Junius,  viz.,  that 
the  English  nation  was  "  insulted  and  abused  "  by  the 
king  and  ministers.  But  this  was  too  strong  a  state- 
ment to  be  brought  out  abruptly.  Junius  therefore 
went  back,  and  ])repared  the  way  by  showing  in  suc- 
cessive sentences,  (1.)  Why  a  free  people  obey  the  laws — 
"because  they  have  themselves  enacted  them.''  (2.) 
That  this  obedience  is  ordinarily  cheeri'ul,  and  almost 
unlimited.  (3.)  That  such  obedienw  to  (he  guardian  of 
the  laws  naturally  leads  to  a  strong  affection  for  his 

1)erson.  (4.)  That  this  affection  (as  shown  in  their 
listory)  had  often  been  excessive  among  the  English, 
who  were,  in  fact,  peculiarly  lialile  to  a  '*  mistaken  zeal 
for  particular  persons  and  families.'^  Hence  they  were 
e(pially  liable  (this  is  not  said,  but  implied)  to  have 
their  loyalty  iin|H)sed  upon;  and  tlierefore  the  feeling 
then  so  j)revalent  was  well  founded,  that  the  king  in 
his  rash  counsels  and  reckless  choice  of  ministers,  vxnsi 


LETTER.  21 

of  a  free  people,  whose  rights  have  been  invaded,  we 
are  interested  in  their  cause.  Our  own  feelings  tell  us 
how  long  they  ought  to  have  submitted,  and  at  what 
moment  it  would  have  been  treachery  to  themselves  not 
to  have  resisted.  How  much  warmer  will  be  our 
resentment,  if  experience  should  bring  the  fatal  exam- 
ple home  to  ourselves ! 

The  situation  of  this  country  is  alarming  enough  to 

have  been  taking  advantage  of  the  generous  confidence 
of  his  people,  and  playing  on  the  easiness  of  their 
temper.  If  so,  they  were  indeed  insulted  and  abused. 
The  exordium,  then,  is  a  complete  chain  of  logical 
deduction,  and  the  case  is  fully  made  out,  provided  the 
popular  feeling  referred  to  was  correct.  And  here  we 
see  where  the  fallacy  of  Junius  lies,  whenever  he  is  in 
the  wrong.  It  is  in  taking  for  granted  one  of  the 
steps  of  his  reasoning.  He  does  not,  in  this  case,  even 
mention  the  feeling  alluded  to,  in  direct  terms.  Pie 
knew  it  was  beating  in  the  hearts  of  the  people;  his 
whole  preceding  train  of  thought  was  calculated  to 
justify  and  inflame  it,  and  he  therefore  leaps  at  once  to 
the  conclusion  it  involves,  and  addresses  them  as  actually 
filled  w^ith  resentment  "to  see  such  a  temper  insulted 
and  abused."  The  feeling,  in  this  instance,  was  to  a 
great  extent  well  founded,  and  so  far  his  logic  is  com- 
plete. In  other  cases  his  assumption  is  a  false  one. 
He  lays  hold  of  some  slander  of  the  day,  some  dis- 
torted statement  of  facts,  some  maxim  which  is  only 
half  true,  some  prevailing  passion  or  prejudice,  and 
dexterously  intermingling  them  with  a  train  of  thought 
which  in  every  other  respect  is  logical  and  just,  he 
hurries  the  mind  to  a  conclusion  which  seems  neces- 
sarily involved  in  the  premises.  Hardly  any  writer 
has  so  much  art  and  plausibility  in  thus  misleading 
the  mind. 


22  JUNIUS  UNMASKED, 

rouse  the  attention  of  every  man  who  pretends  to  a 
concern  for  the  i)ublic  welfare.  Appearances  justify 
suspicion  ;  and,  when  the  safety  of  a  nation  is  at  stake, 
suspicion  is  a  just  ground  of  inquiry.  Let  us  enter 
into  it  with  candor  and  decency.  Respect  is  due  to  the 
station  of  ministers;  and  if  a  resohition  must  at  last 
be  taken,  there  is  none  so  likely  to  be  supported  with 
firmness  as  that  which  has  been  adopted  with  modera- 
tion. 

The  ruin  or  prosperity  of  a  state  depends  so  much 
upon  the  administration  of  its  government,  that,  to  be 
acquainted  with  the  merit  of  a  ministry,  we  need  only 
observe  the  condition  of  the  people.  If  we  see  them 
obedient  to  the  laws,  prosperous  in  their  industry, 
united  at  home,  and  respected  abroad,  we  may  reason- 
ably presume  that  their  affairs  are  conducted  by  men 
of  experience,  abilities,  and  virtue.  If,  on  the  contrary, 
we  see  a  universal  spirit  of  distrust  and  dissatisfaction, 
a  rapid  decay  of  trade,  dissensions  in  all  parts  of  the 
empire,  and  a  total  loss  of  respect  in  the  eyes  of  foreign 
powers,  we  may  pronounce,  without  hesitation,  that  the 
government  of  that  country  is  weak,  distracted,  and 
corrupt.  The  multitude,  in  all  countries,  are  patient 
to  a  certain  point.  Ill  usage  may  rouse  their  indigna- 
tion and  hurry  them  into  excesses,  but  the  original  fault 
is  in  governments^  Perhaps  there  never  was  an  instance 

•  3.  Here  is  the  central  idea  of  the  letter — the  prop- 
osition  to  bo  prov(»d  in  rospoct  to  the  king  and  his 
ministers.  The  former  ])art  o\'  this  ]>arngrapli  contains 
the  major  ])reniise,  the  remainder  the  minor  down  to 
the  last  sentence,  which  brings  out  the  conelnsion  in 
emphatic  terms.     In  order  to  strengthen    the    minor, 


LETTER.  23 

of  a  change  in  the  circumstances  and  temper  of  a 
whole  nation,  so  sudden  and  extraordinary  as  that 
which  the  misconduct  of  ministers  has,  within  these 
very  few  years,  produced  in  Great  Britain.  When  our 
gracious  sovereign  ascended  the  throne,  we  were  a 
flourishing  and  a  contented  people.  If  the  personal  vir- 
tues of  a  king  could  have  insured  the  happiness  of  his 
subjects,  the  scene  could  not  have  altered  so  entirely  as 
it  has  done.  The  idea  of  uniting  all  parties,  of  trying 
all  characters,  and  distributing  the  offices  of  state  by 
rotation,  was  gracious  and  benevolent  to  an  extreme, 
though  it  has  not  yet  produced  the  many  salutary  effects 
which  were  intended  by  it.  To  say  nothing  of  the 
wisdom  of  such  plan,  it  undoubtedly  arose  from  an 
unbounded  goodness  of  heart,  in  which  folly  had  no 
share.  It  was  not  a  capricious  partiality  to  new  faces; 
it  was  not  a  natural  turn  for  low  intrigue,  nor  was  it 
the  treacherous  amusement  of  double  and  triple  negotia- 
tions. No,  sir ;  it  arose  from  a  continued  anxiety  in  the 
purest  of  all  possible  hearts  for  the  general  welfare.* 

which  was  the  most  important  premise,  he  rapidly 
contrasts  the  condition  of  England  before  and  after  the 
king  ascended  the  throne.  In  doing  this,  he  dilates  on 
those  errors  of  the  king  which  led  to,  and  which 
account  for,  so  remarkable  a  change.  Thus  the  conclu- 
sion is  made  doubly  strong.  This  union  of  severe  logic 
with  the  finest  rhetorical  skill  in  filling  out  the  premi- 
ses and  giving  them  their  utmost  effect,  furnishes  an 
excellent  model  for  the  student  in  oratory. 

*4.  In  this  attack  on  the  king,  there  is  a  refined 
artifice,  rarely  if  ever  equaled,  in  leading  the  mind 
gradually  forward  from  the  slightest  possible  insinua- 
tion to  the  bitterest  irony.    First  we  have  the  "  uniting 


24  JUNIUS  UNMASKED, 

Unfortunately  for  us,  the  event  has  not  been  answerable 
to  the  design.  After  a  rapid  succession  of  changes,  we 
are  reduced  to  that  change  which  hardly  any  change 
can  mend.  Yet  there  is  no  extremity  of  distress  which 
of  itself  ought  to  reduce  a  great  nation  to  despair.     It 

of  all  parties,"  which  is  proper  and  desirable;  next 
"trying  all  characters,"  which  suggests  decidedly  a 
want  of  judgment;  then  "distributing  the  offices  of 
state  by  rotation,'^  a  charge  rendered  plausible,  at  least, 
by  the  frequent  changes  of  ministers,  and  involving  (if 
true)  a  weakness  little  short  of  absolute  fatuity.  The 
way  being  thus  prej)ared,  what  was  first  insinuated  is 
now  openly  expressed  in  the  next  sentence.  The  word 
^* folly"  is  aj)plied  to  the  conduct  of  the  king  of  Eng- 
land in  the  face  of  his  subjects,  and  the  application 
rendered  doubly  severe  by  the  gravest  irony.  Still, 
there  is  one  relief.  Allusion  is  made  to  his  "  unbounded 
goodness  of  heart,"  from  which,  in  the  ])receding  chain 
of  insinuations,  these  errors  of  judgment  had  been 
deduced.  The  next  sentence  takes  this  away.  It 
directly  ascribes  to  the  king,  with  an  increased  severity 
of  ironical  denial,  some  of  the  meanest  "passions  of 
royalty,  "a  capricious  j)artiality  for  new  fact^s,"  a  "natu- 
ral love  of  low  intrigue,"  "the  treacherous  amusement 
of  double  and  trij)le  negotiations !  "  It  is  unnecessary  to 
remark  on  the  admirable  ])recision  and  force  of  the 
language  in  these  expressions,  and,  indeed,  throughout 
the  whole  passage.  There  had  been  just  enough  in  the 
king's  conduct,  for  the  last  seven  years,  to  make  the 
people  suspect  all  this,  and  to  weaken  or  destroy  their 
aiVection  for  the  crown.  It  was  all  connected  with  that 
system  of  favoritism  intnxlueed  by  I^ord  Bute,  which 
tlie  nation  so  much  abhorred.  Nothing  but  this  would 
have  made  them  endure  for  a  moment  such  an  attack 
on  their  monarch,  and  especially  the  absolute  mockery 
with  which  Junius  concludes  the  whole,  by  speaking  of 


LETTER.  25 

is  not  the  disorder,  but  the  physician ;  it  is  not  a  casual 
concurrence  of  calamitous  circumstances,  it  is  the  per- 
nicious hand  of  government,  which  alone  can  make  a 
whole  people  desperate. 

Without  much  political  sagacity,  or  any  extraordi- 
nary depth  of  observation,  we  need  only  mark  how 
the  principal  departments  of  the  state  are  bestowed 
[distributed],  and  look  no  farther  for  the  true  cause  of 
every  mischief  that  befalls  us. 

The  finances  of  a  nation,  sinking  under  its  debts  and 
expenses,  are  committed  to  a  young  nobleman  already 
ruined  by  play.*     Introduced  to  act  under  the  auspices 

"the  anxiety  of  the  purest  of  all  possible  hearts  for  the 
general  welfare ! "  His  entire  Letter  to  the  king, 
with  all  the  rancor  ascribed  to  it  by  Burke,  does  not 
contain  so  much  bitterness  and  insult  as  are  concentrated 
in  this  single  passage.  While  we  can  not  but  condemn 
its  spirit,  we  are'  forced  to  acknowledge  that  there  is  in 
this  and  many  other  passages  of  Junius,  a  rhetorical 
skill  in  the  evolution  of  thought  which  was  never  sur- 
passed by  Demosthenes. 

*  5.  The  Duke  of  Grafton,  first  Lord  of  the  Treasury. 
It  is  unnecessary  to  remark  on  the  dexterity  of  connect- 
ing with  this  mention  of  a  treasury,  "sinking  under 
its  debts  and  expenses,*^  the  idea  of  its  head  being  a 
gambler  loaded  with  his  own  debts,  and  liable  contin- 
ually to  new  distresses  and  temptations  from  his  love 
of  play.  The  thought  is  wisely  left  here.  The  argu- 
ment which  it  implies  would  be  weakened  by  any 
attempt  to  expand  it.  Junius  often  reminds  us  of  the 
great  Athenian  orator,  in  tluis  striking  a  single  blow, 
and  then  passing  on  to  some  other  subject,  as  he  does 
here  to  the  apostasy  of  the  Duke  of  Grafton,  his  incon- 
sistency, caprice,  and  irresolution. 


26  JUNIUS  UNMASKED. 

of  Lord  Chatham,  and  left  at  the  head  of  affairs  by 
that  nobleman's  retreat,  he  became  a  minister  by  acci- 
dent; but,  deserting  the  principles  and  professions 
which  gave  him  a  moment's  popularity,  we  see  him, 
from  every  honorable  engagement  to  the  public,  an 
apostate  by  design.  As  for  business,  the  world  yet 
knows  nothing  of  his  talents  or  resolution,  unless  a 
wavering,  wayward  inconsistency  be  a  mark  of  genius, 
and  caprice  a  demonstration  of  spirit.  It  may  be  said, 
perhaps,  that  it  is  his  Grace's  province,  as  surely  as  it 
is  his  passion,  rather  to  distribute  than  to  save  the 
public  money,  and  that  while  Lord  North  is  Chancellor 
of  the  p]xchequer,  tlie  first  Lord  of  the  Treasury  may 
be  as  thoughtless  and  extravagant  as  he  pleases.  I 
hope,  however,  he  will  not  rely  too  much  on  the  fertility 
of  Lord  North's  genius  for  finance.  His  Lordship  is 
yet  to  give  us  the  first  proof  of  his  abilities. 

It  may  be  candid  to  suppose  that  he  has  hitherto 
voluntarily  concealed  his  talents;  intending,  perhaps, 
to  astonish  the  world,  when  we  least  expect  it,  with  a 
knowledge  of  trade,  a  choice  of  expedients,  and  a  depth 
of  resources  equal  to  the  necessities,  and  far  beyond 
the  hopes  of  his  country.  He  must  now  exert  the 
whole  })ower  of  his  capacity,  if  he  would  wish  us  to 
forget  that,  since  he  has  been  in  office,  no  plan  has 
been  formed,  no  system  adhered  to,  nor  any  one  impor- 
tant measure  adopted  for  the  relief  of  j)ublic  creilit. 
If  his  plan  for  the  service  of  the  current  year  l)c  not 
irrcvoeid)ly  fixed  on,  let  me  warn  him  to  think  serious- 
ly of  consequences  befi)re  he  venturer  to  increase  the 
public  debt.  Outraged  and  oppressed  as  we  are,  this 
nation  will  not  bear,  after  a  six  years'  peace,  to  sec  new 


LETTER,  27 

millions  borrowed,  without  any  ev^entual  diminution  of 
debt  or  reduction  of  interest.  The  attempt  might 
rouse  a  spirit  of  resentment,  which  might  reach  beyond 
the  sacrifice  of  a  minister.  As  to  the  debt  upon  the 
civil  list,  the  people  of  England  expect  that  it  will  not 
be  paid  without  a  strict  inquiry  how  it  was  incurred.* 
If  it  must  be  paid  by  Parliament,  let  me  advise  the 
Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer  to  think  of  some  better 
expedient  than  a  lottery.  To  support  an  expensive 
war,  or  in  circumstances  of  absolute  necessity,  a  lottery 
may  perhaps  be  allowable;  but,  besides  that  it  is  at  all 
times  the  very  worst  way  of  raising  money  upon  the 
people,  I  think  it  ill  becomes  the  royal  dignity  to  have 
the  debts  of  a  prince  provided  for,  like  the  repairs  of 
a  country  bridge  or  a  decayed  hospital.  The  manage- 
ment of  the  king's  aifairs  in  the  House  of  Commons 
can  not  be  more  disgraced  than  it  has  been.  A  leading 
minister  repeatedly  called  down  for  absolute  ignorance 
— ridiculous  motions  ridiculously  withdrawn — deliber- 
ate  plans  disconcerted,  and  a  week's   preparation  of 

*  6.  Within  about  seven  years,  the  king  had  run  up 
a  debt  of  £513,000  beyond  the  ample  allowance  made 
for  his  expenses  on  the  civil  list,  and  had  just  applied, 
at  the  opening  of  Parliament,  for  a  grant  to  pay  it  off. 
The  nation  were  indignant  at  such  overreaching.  The 
debt,  however,  was  paid  this  session,  and  in  a  few  years 
there  was  ano'ther  contracted.  Thus  it  went  on,  from 
time  to  time,  until  1782,  when  £300,000  more  were 
paid,  in  addition  to  a  large  sum  during  the  interval. 
At  this  time  a  partial  provision  was  made,  in  connec- 
tion with  Mr.  Burke's  plan  of  economical  reform,  for 
preventing  all  future  encroachments  of  this  kind  on 
the  public  revenues. 


28  JUNIUS  UNMASKED. 

graceful  oratory  lost  in  a  moment,  give  us  some,  though 
not  an  adequate  idea  of  Lord  North's  parliamentary 
abilities  and  influence.*  Yet,  before  he  had  the  mis- 
fortune of  being  Cljancellor  of  the  Exchequer,  he  was 
neither  an  object  of  derision  to  his  enemies,  nor  of 
melancholy  pity  to  his  friends. 

A  series  of  inconsistent  measures  has  alienated  the 
colonies  from  their  duty  as  subjects  and  from  their 
natural  affection  to  their  common  country.  When  Mr. 
Greiiville  was  placed  at  the  head  of  the  treasury,  he 
felt  the  impossibility  of  Great  Britain's  supporting  such 
an  establishment  as  her  former  successes  had  made  in- 
dispensable, and,  at  the  same  time,  of  giving  any  sensi- 
ble relief  to  foreign  trade  and  to  the  weight  of  the 
public  debt.  He  thought  it  equitable  that  those  parts 
of  the  empire  which  had  benefited  most  by  the  ex- 
penses of  the  war,  should  contribute  something  to  the 
expenses  of  the  peace,  and  he  had  no  doubt  of  the  con- 
stitutional right  vested  in  Parliament  to  raise  the  con- 
tribution. But,  unfortunately  for  this  country,  Mr. 
Grenville  was  at  any  rate  to  be  distressed  because  he 
was  uiinister,  and  Mr.  Pitt  and  Lord  Camden  were  to 
be  patrons  of  America,  because  they  were  in  opposi- 
tion. Their  declaration  gave  spirit  and  argument  to 
the  colonies;  and  while,  perhaps,  they  meant  no  more 
than  tlie  ruin  of  a  minister,  they  in  effect  divided  one- 
half  of  the  empire  from  tlie  other.f 

*  7.  Notwithstanding  these  early  difficidties,  Lord 
North  be(!ame  at  last  a  very  dexterous  and  eflective 
del)ater. 

t8.  This  attack  on  Lord  Chatham  and  his  friend 
shows  the  jmlitical  aflinities  of  Junius.     He  believed 


LETTER.  29 

Under  one  administration  the  Stamp  Act  is  made, 
under  the  second  it  is  repealed,  under  the  third,  in  spite 
of  all  experience,  a  new  mode  of  taxing  the  colonies  is 
invented,  and  a  question  revived,  which  ought  to  have 
been  buried  in  oblivion.  .  In  these  circumstances,  a  new 
office  is  established  for  the  business  of  the  Plantations, 

with  Mr.  Grenville  and  Lord  Rockingham  in  the  right 
of  Great  Britain  to  tax  America;  and  in  referring  to 
Mr.  Grenville's  attempt  to  enforce  that  right  by  the 
Stamp  Act,  he  adopts  his  usual  course  of  interweaving 
an  argument  in  its  favor  into  the  language  used.^  He 
thus  prepares  the  way  for  his  censures  on  Lord  Chat- 
ham and  Lord  Camden,  affirming  that  they  acted  on 
the  principle  that  "Mr.  Grenville  was  at  any  rate  to 
be  distressed  because  he  was  minister  and  they  were 
in  opposition,"  thus  implying  that  they  were  actuated 
by  factious  and  selfish  views  in  their  defense  of  America. 
About  a  year  after  this  letter  was  written.  Lord  Rock- 
ingham was  reconciled  to  Lord  Chatham  and  Lord 
Camden,  and  all  united  to  break  down  the  Grafton 
ministry.  Junius  now  turned  round  and  wrote  his  cel- 
ebrated eulogium  on  Lord  Chatham,  contained  in  his 
fifty-fourth  letter,  in  which  he  says,  '^  Recorded  honors 
shall  gather  round  his  monument,  and  thicken  over 
hiui.  It  is  a  solid  fabric,  and  will  support  the  laurels 
that  adorn  it.  I  am  not  conversant  in  the  language 
of  panegyric.  These  praises  are  extorted  from  me ; 
but  they  will  wear  well,  for  they  have  been  dearly 
earned.'^  The  last  of  his  letters  was  addressed  to  Lord 
Camden,  in  which  he  says,  ''  I  turn  with  pleasure  from 
that  barren  waste,  in  which  no  salutary  plant  takes  root, 
no  verdure  quickens,  to  a  character  fertile,  as  I  wil- 
lingly believe,  in  every  great  and  good  qualification." 
Political  men  have  certainly  a  peculiar  faculty  of  view- 
ing the  characters  of  others  under  very  difi'erent  lights, 
as  they  happen  to  affect  their  own  interests  and  feelings.^ 


80  JUNIUS  UNMASKED. 

and  the  Earl  of  Hillsborough  called  forth,  at  a  most 
critical  season,  to  govern  America.  The  choice  at  least 
announced  to  us  a  man  of  superior  capacity  and  knowl- 
edge. Whether  he  be  so  or  not,  let  his  dispatches  as 
far  as  they  have  aj)peared,  let  his  measures  as  far  as 
they  have  operated,  determine  for  him.  In  the  former 
we  have  seen  strong  assertions  without  proof,  declama- 
tion without  argument,  and  violent  censures  without 
dignity  or  moderation,  but  neither  correctness  in  the 
composition,  nor  judgment  in  the  design.  As  for  his 
measures,  let  it  be  remembered  that  he  was  called  upon 
to  conciliate  and  unite,  and  that,  when  he  entered  into 
office,  the  most  refractory  of  the  colonics  were  still  dis- 
posed to  proceed  by  the  constitutional  methods  of  peti- 
tion and  remonstrance.  Since  that  period  they  have 
been  driven  into  excesses  little  short  of  rebellion.  Pe- 
titions have  been  hindered  from  reacliing  the  throne, 
and  the  continuance  of  one  of  the  principal  assemblies 
put  upon  an  arbitrary  condition,  which,  considering  the 
temper  they  were  in,  it  was  impossible  they  should  com- 
ply with,  and  which  would  have  availed  nothing  as  to 
the  general  question  if  it  had  been  complied  with.* 
So  violent,  and  I  believe  I  may  call  it  so  unconstitu- 
tional an  exertion  of  the  prerogative,  to  say  nothing  of 
the  weak,  injudicious  terms  in  which  it  was  conveyed, 
gives  us  as  humble  an  opinion  of  his  Lordship's  capaci- 

*9.  The  "arbitrary  condition"  was  that  the  General 
Court  of  Massachusetts  should  rescind  one  of  their  own 
rescthitionH  and  expunge  it  from  their  records.  The 
wlioh;  of  this  passage  in  relation  to  Hillsborough  is  as 
correct  in  point  of  iact,  as  it  is  well  reasoned  luid  liucly 
expressed. 


LETTER.  31 

ty  as  it  does  of  his  temper  and  moderation.  While  we 
are  at  peace  with  other  nations,  our  military  force  may 
perhaps  be  spared  to  support  the  Earl  of  Hillsborough's 
measures  in  America.  Whenever  that  force  shall  be 
necessarily  withdrawn  or  diminished,  the  dismission  of 
such  a  minister  will  neither  console  us  for  his  impru- 
dence, nor  remove  the  settled  resentment  of  a  people, 
who,  complaining  of  an  act  of  the  legislature,  are  out- 
raged by  an  unwarrantable  stretch  of  prerogative,  and, 
supporting  their  claims  by  argument,  are  insulted  with 
declamation. 

Drawing  lots  would  be  a  prudent  and  reasonable 
method  of  appointing  the  officers  of  state,  compared  to 
a  late  disposition  of  the  secretary's  office.  Lord  Roch- 
ford  was  acquainted  with  the  affairs  and  temper  of  the 
Southern  courts;  Lord  Weymouth  was  equally  quali- 
fied for  either  department.  By  what  unaccountable 
caprice  has  it  happened,  that  the  latter,  who  pretends 
to  no  experience  whatsoever,  is  removed  to  the  most 
important  of  the  two  departments,  and  the  former,  by 
preference,  placed  in  an  office  where  his  experience  can 
be  of  no  use  to  him?*  Lord  Weymouth  had  distin- 
guished himself  in  his  first  employment  by  a  spirited, 

*  10.  The  changes  here  censured  had  taken  place  about 
three  months  before.  The  office  of  Foreign  Secretary 
for  the  Southern  Dej)artment  was  made  vacant  by  the 
resignation  of  Lord  Shelburne.^  Lord  Rochford,  who 
had  been  minister  to  France,  and  thus  made  "acquainted 
Avith  the  temper  of  the  Southern  courts,''  ought  natu- 
rally to  have  been  apj^ointed  (if  at  all)  to  this  depart- 
ment. Instead  of  this  he  was  made  Secretary  of  the 
Northern  Department,  for  which  he  had  been  prepared 
by  no  previous  knowledge ;  while  Lord  Weymouth  was 


32  JUNIUS  UNMASKED. 

if  not  jiulicious  conduct.  He  had  animated  the  civil 
magistrate  beyond  the  tone  of  civil  authority,  and  had 
directed  the  operations  of  the  army  to  more  than  mil- 
itary execution.  Recovered  from  the  errors  of  his 
youth,  from  the  distraction  of  play,  and  the  bewitching 
smiles  of  ]^urgundy,  behold  him  exerting  the  whole 
strength  of  his  clear,  unclouded  faculties  in  the  service 
of  the  crown.  It  was  not  the  heat  of  midnight  ex- 
cesses, nor  ignorance  of  the  laws,  nor  the  furious  spirit 
of  the  house  of  Bedford;  no,  sir;  when  this  respecta- 
ble minister  interposed  his  authority  between  the 
magistrate  and  the  people,  and  signed  the  mandate  on 
which,  for  aught  he  knew,  the  lives  of  thousands  de* 
])onded,  he  did  it  from  the  deliberate  motion  of  his 
heart,  supported  by  the  best  of  his  judgment.* 

taken  from  the  Home  Department,  and  placed  in  the 
Southern,  being  ^^  equally  qualified ''  [that  is,  wholly 
unqualified  by  any  "experience  whatsoever '']  for  either 
department  in  the  Foreign  office,  whether  Southern  or 
Northern. 

*11.  As  Secretary  of  the  Home  Department,  Lord 
Weymouth  had  addressed  a  letter  to  the  magistrates  of 
London,  early  in  17()8,  advising  them  to  cull  in  the 
military,  provided  certwin  disturbances  in  the  streets 
should  continue.  The  idea  of  setting  the  soldiery  to 
fire  on  masses  of  unarmed  men  lias  always  been  ablioi-- 
rent  to  the  P^nglish  nation.  It  was,  therefore,  a  ause 
adminibly  suited  to  tlie  purposes  of  this  Letter.^  In 
using  it  to  inflame  the  people  nirainst  Lord  Weymouth, 
Junius  charitably  supposes  that  he  was  not  repeating 
the  errors  of  liis  youth— that  he  was  neither  drunk,  nor 
ignonint  of  what  he  did,  nor  impelled  by  **the  furious 
spirit"  of  one  of  the  proudest  families  of  the  realm — 


LETTER.  33 

It  has  lately  been  a  fashion  to  pay  a  compliment  to 
the  bravery  and  generosity  of  the  Commander-in-chief 
[the  Marquess  of  Granby]  at  tlie  expense  of  his  under- 
standing. They  who  love  him  least  make  no  question 
of  his  courage,  Avhile  his  friends  dwell  chiefly  on  the 
facility  of  his  disposition.  Admitting  him  to  be  as 
brave  as  a  total  absence  of  all  feeling  and  reflection  can 
make  him,  let  us  see  what  sort  of  merit  he  derives  from 
the  remainder  of  his  character.  If  it  be  generosity  to 
accumulate  in  his  own  person  and  family  a  number  of 
lucrative  employments;  to  provide,  at  the  public  ex- 
pense, for  every  creature  that  bears  the  name  of  Man- 
ners ;  and,  neglecting  the  merit  and  services  of  the  rest 
of  the  army,  to  heap  promotions  upon  his  favorites  and 
dependents,  the  present  Commander-in-chief  is  the  most 
generous  man  alive.  Nature  has  been  sparing  of  her 
gifts  to  this  noble  lord;  but  where  birth  and  fortune 

all  of  which  Lord  Weymouth  would  certainly  say — 
and  therefore  (which  his  Lordship  must  also  admit) 
that  he  did,  from  "the  deliberate  motion  of  his  heart, 
supported  by  the  best  of  his  judgment,^'  sign  a  paper 
whicli  the  great  body  of  the  people  considered  as  author- 
izing promiscuous  murder,  and  which  actually  resulted 
in  the  death  of  fourteen  persons  three  weeks  after. 
The  whole  is  so  wrought  up  as  to  create  the  feeling, 
that  Lord  Weymouth  was  in  both  of  these  states  of 
mind — that  he  acted  with  deliberation  in  carrying  out 
the  dictates  of  headlong  or  drunken  passion. 

All  this,  of  course,  is  greatly  exaggerated.  Severe 
measures  did  seem  indispensable  to  suppress  the  mobs 
of  that  day,  and,  whoever  stood  forth  to  direct  them, 
must  of  necessity  incur  the  popular  indignation.  Still, 
it  was  a  question  among  the  most  candid  men,  whether 
milder  means  mi^ht  not  have  been  effectual. 


34  JUNIUS  UNMASKED. 

are  united,  we  exi)ect  the  noble  pride  and  indej)endence 
of  a  man  of  spirit,  not  the  servile,  humiliating  com- 
plaisance of  a  courtier.  As  to  the  goodness  of  his  heart, 
if  a  proof  of  it  be  taken  from  the  facility  of  never  refus- 
ing, what  conclusion  shall  we  draw  from  the  indecency 
of  never  performing?  And  if  the  discipline  of  the  army 
be  in  any  degree  preserved,  what  thanks  are  due  to  a 
man  whose  cares,  notoriously  confined  to  filling  up  va- 
cancies, have  degraded  the  office  of  Commander-in-chief 
into  [that  of]  a  broker  of  commissions.* 

With  respect  to  the  navy,  I  shall  only  say  that  this 
country  is  so  highly  indebted  to  Sir  Edward  Hawke, 


*1 2.  The  Marquess  of  Granby,  personally  considered, 
was  perhaps  the  most  popular  member  of  the  cabinet, 
with  the  exception  of  Sir  Edward  Hawke.  He  was  a 
warm-hearted  man,  of  highly  social  qualities  and  gener- 
ous feelings.  As  it  was  the  object  of  Junius  to  break 
down  the  ministry,  it  was  peculiarly  necessary  for  him 
to  blast  and  destroy  his  popularity.  This  he  attem])ts 
to  do  by  discrediting  the  character  of  the  marquess,  as 
a  man  of  firnmess,  strength  of  mind,  and  disinterested- 
ness in  managing  the  (U)nc('rns  of  the  army.  This  at- 
tack is  distinguislu'd  for  its  plausibility  and  bitterness. 
It  is  clear  that  Junius  was  in  some  way  connected  with 
the  army  or  with  the  War  Department,  and  that  in  this 
situation  he  had  not  only  the  means  of  very  exact  in- 
formation, but  some  private  grudge  against  the  Com- 
mander-in-chief.'' His  charges  and  insinuaticms  are 
greatly  overstrained;  but  it  is  certain  that  the  army 
was  moldering  away  at  this  time  in  a  manner  which  leffc 
the  country  in  a  very  defenseless  condition.  Lord  Chat- 
hanj  showed  this  by  ineontestible  evidence,  ii^  his  speech 
on  the  Falkland  Islands,  delivered  about  a  year  after 
this  Letter  was  written. 


LETTER. 


3^ 


tliat  no  expense  slioukl  be  spared  to  secure  him  an  hon- 
orable and  affluent  retreat. 

The  pure  and  impartial  administration  of  justice  is 
perhaps  the  firmest  bond  to  secure  a  cheerful  submission 
of  the  people,  and  to  engage  their  affections  to  govern- 
ment. It  is  not  sufficient  that  questions  of  private 
right  or  wrong  are  j vastly  decided,  nor  that  judges  are 
superior  to  the  vileness  of  pecuniary  corruption.  Jef- 
fries himself,  when  the  court  had  no  interest,  was  an 
upright  judge.  A  court  of  justice  may  be  subject  to  an- 
other sort  of  bias,  more  important  and  pernicious,  as  it 
reaches  beyond  the  interest  of  individuals  and  affects 
the  whole  community.  A  judge,  under  the  influence 
of  government,  may  be  honest  enough  in  the  decision 
of  private  causes,  yet  a  traitor  to  the  public.  When  a 
victim  is  marked  out  by  the  ministry,  this  judge  will 
offer  himself  to  perform  the  sacrifice.  He  will  not 
scruple  to  prostitute  his  dignity,  and  betray  the  sanctity 
of  his  office,  whenever  an  arbitrary  point  is  to  be  car- 
ried for  government,  or  the  resentment  of  a  court  to  be 
gratified. 

These  principles  and  proceedings,  odious  and  con- 
temptible as  they  are,  in  effect  are  no  less  injudicious. 
A  wise  and  generous  people  are  roused  by  every  appear- 
ance of  oppressive,  unconstitutional  measures,  whethei*' 
those  measures  are  supported  openly  by  the  power  of 
government,  or  masked  under  the  forms  of  a  court  of 
justice.  Prudence  and  self-preservation  will  oblige  the 
most  moderate  dispositions  to  make  common  cause,  even 
with  a  man  whose  conduct  they  censure,  if  they  see  him 
persecuted  in  a  way  which  the  real  spirit  of  the  laws 
3 


30  JUNIUS  UNMASKED. 

will  not  justify.    The  facts  on  which  these  remarks  are 
founded  are  too  notorious  to  require  an  application.* 

This,  sir,  is  the  detail.  In  one  view,  behold  a  nation 
overwhebned  with  debt ;  her  revenues  wasted ;  her  trade 
declining;  the  affections  of  her  colonies  alienated;  the 
duty  of  tiie  magistrate  transferred  to  the  soldiery;  a 
gallant  army,  which  never  fought  unwillingly  but 
against  their  fellow-subjects,  moldering  away  for  want 
of  the  direction  of  a  man  of  common  abilities  and  spirit; 
and,  in  the  last  instance,  the  administration  of  justice 
become  odious  and  suspected  to  the  whole  body  of  the 
people.  This  deplorable  scene  admits  of  but  one  addi- 
tion— that  we  are  governed  by  counsels,  from  which  a 

*13.  It  is  unnecessary  to  say  that  liord  Mansfield  is 
here  pointed  at.  No  one  now  believes  that  this  great 
jurist  ever  did  the  things  here  ascribed  to  him  by  Jun- 
ius.* All  that  is  true  is,  that  he  was  a  very  high 
Tory,  and  was,  therefore,  naturally  led  to  exalt  the  pre- 
rogatives of  the  crown ;  and  that  he  was  a  very  politic 
nu\n  (and  this  was  the  great  failing  in  his  character), 
and  therefore  unwilling  to  oppose  the  king  or  his  min- 
istei's,  when  he  knew  in  heart  they  were  wrong.  This 
was  undoubtedly  the  case  in  respect  to  the  issuing  of  a 
general  warrant  for  apprehending  Wilkes,  which  he 
^ught  publicly  to  have  condemned  ;  but,  as  he  remaincnl 
silent,  men  naturally  considered  him,  in  his  chanicter 
of  Chief  Justice,  as  having  approved  of  the  course  di- 
rected by  the  king.  Hence  Mansfield  was  held  res|x>n- 
sible  for  the  treatjuent  of  Wilkes,  of  whom  Junius  here 
speaks  in  very  nearly  the  terms  used  by  lA)rd  Chatham, 
us  tt  man  whose  "  conduct"  he  censured,  but  with  whom 
every  moderate  man  must "  make  common  «iuse,"  when 
he  was  "  persecuted  in  a  way  which  the  real  spirit  of 
the  laws  will  not  justify." 


LETTER,  37 

reasonable  man  can  expect  no  remedy  but  poison,  no 
relief  but  death.  If,  by  the  immediate  interposition  of 
Providence,  it  were  [be]  possible  for  us  to  escape  a  crisis 
so  full  of  terror  and  despair,  posterity  will  not  believe 
the  history  of  the  present  times.  They  will  either  con- 
clude that  our  distresses  were  imaginary,  or  that  we  had 
the  good  fortune  to  be  governed  by  men  of  acknowl- 
edged integrity  and  wisdom.  They  will  not  believe  it 
possible  that  their  ancestors  could  have  survived  or  re- 
covered from  so  desperate  a  condition,  while  a  Duke  of 
Grafton  was  Prime  Minister,  a  Lord  ISTorth  Chancellor 
of  the  Exchequer,  a  Weymouth  and  a  Hillsborough 
Secretaries  of  State,  a  Granby  Commander-in-chief,  and 
a  Mansfield  chief  criminal  judge  of  the  kingdom. 

Jui^ius. 


COMMENTS  ON  THE  DOCTOR'S  NOTES. 

Note  8,  p.  28.  (1.)  The  doctor  is  here  in  error. 
In  no  place  does  Junius  use  language  which  can  even 
be  distorted  into  an  argument  in  favor  of  enforcing  the 
7ight  to  tax  America.  He  here  attacks  the  opposition 
or  minority  because  they  had  from  selfish  motives  di- 
vided one-half  of  the  empire  from  the  other.  He  states 
the  views  of  Mr.  Grenville  on  the  subject  of  taxing  the 
colonies,  but  not  his  oion.  Elsewhere,  however,  he  does, 
and  this  is  his  language:  "Junius  considers  the  right 
of  taxing  the  colonies  by  an  act  of  the  British  Legisla- 
ture as  a  speculative  right  merely,  never  to  be  exerted, 
nor  ever  to  be  renounced.^^ — Let.  63.  But  Camden  and 
Pitt  denied  the  right. — Bancroft,  vol.  v.,  pp.  395,  403. 
Junius  stood  between  the  two  ])arties  in  regard  to 
taxing  the  colonies,  hence  could  not  be  a  partisan. 

(2.)  Here  again  is  an  error.  Rockingham  and  Chat- 
ham led  the  two  wings  of  the  minority.  The  former 
was  in  favor  of  septennial,  the  latter  of  triennial 
parliaments. — Let.  52.  Herein  Junius  agreed  with 
Cluitham,  and  hence  could  not  be  a  partisan  of  Rocking- 
ham.—Let.  53.  But  because  Junius  eulogized  Chat- 
ham, he  was  said  to  be  a  partisan  of  Chatham,  which 
hte  afterwards  contradicts  when  he  compilcHl  his  letters, 
in  a  note  to  tho  name  of  Mr.  Pitt  in  his  first  letter,  and 

(38) 


COMMENTS,  39 

is  as  follows:  "And  yet  Junius  has  been  called  the 
partisan  of  Lord  Chatham/'  In  Letter  53,  Junius 
denies  partisanship  to  both.  Neither  did  he  agree  with 
Lord  Camden,  and  mildly  censures  him  for  his  action. 
— Let.  59.  Junius  was  never  a  partisan,  as  will  be 
fully  proven  hereafter.  This  shows  how  limited  a 
knowledge  the  doctor  had  of  Junius,  and  also  how 
unfit  to  comment  on  these  matters  of  fact.  He  had  not 
even  caught  the  design  or  spirit  of  Junius.  He  was 
advocating  the  cause  of  the  people  and  not  the  cause 
of  any  party  or  faction. 

Note  10,  p.  31.  (3.)  Shelburne  was  dismissed;  he 
did  not  resign.  This  is  a  grave  error  in  the  doctor, 
when  the  conduct  of  king  and  ministers  is  the  theme, 
and  when  we  are  studying  the  motives  and  character 
of  the  writer.  As  I  wish  to  excite  inquiry,  in  the 
mind  of  the  reader,  to  lead  him  to  a  just  method  of 
criticism  and  investigation,  I  will  briefly  state  how 
I  detected  even  so  apparently  trifling  a  mistake  as 
the  above.  The  first  sentence  of  the  paragraph  is  as 
follows :  "  Drawing  lots  would  be  a  prudent  and 
reasonable  method  of  appointing  the  officers  of  state 
compared  to  a  late  disposition  of  the  secretary\s  office.^' 
After  reading  this,  and  then  the  note,  it  occurred  to  me 
that  the  king  should  not  be  so  severely  censured 
for  any  mistake  in  judgment  in  filling  an  office  sud- 
denly left  vacant  by  a  resignation.  If  the  writer  did 
so  he  was  malignant,  and  ought  to  be  condemned  by  all 
liberal-minded  and  good  people.  And  after  having 
studied  thoroughly  the  character  of  Mr.  Paine,  for 
I  now  supposed  him  to  be  the  author,  I  said :  al- 
though the  language  is  his,  the  spirit  is  not.     I  confess 


40  JUNIUS  UNMASKED. 

this  staggered  me  not  a  little,  but  in  a  few  moments  I 
regained  myself,  after  reading  these  lines  from  Ban- 
croft's History,  vol.  vi.,  pp.  214,  215,  216 :  "  Yield- 
ing to  the  daily  importunities  of  the  king,  Grafton 
prepared  to  dismiss  Shelburne.  .  .  .  Shelburne  was 
removed.  The  resignation  of  Chatham  instantly  fol- 
lowed  The   removal  of  Shelburne  opened 

the  cabinet  to  the  ignorant  and  incapable  Earl  of  lloch- 
ford,  who  owed  his  selection  to  the  mediocrity  of  his 
talents  and  the  impossibility  of  finding  a  secretary 
of  state  more  thoroughly  submissive."  This  was  satis- 
factory to  me.  What  was  evidence  against  my  hy- 
pothesis by  the  note  of  Doctor  Goodrich,  was  evidence 
in  favor  of  it  when  the  facts  were  known.  This  shows 
how  careless  men  become  who  do  not  have  in  view 
a  scientific  method,  and  who  do  not  search  after  the 
soul  of  things,  but  content  themselves  with  a  su])er- 
ficial  reading.  I  would  here  warn  the  reader  to  ques- 
tion the  statement  of  any  writer  which  does  not  come 
with  more  than  a  plausible  degree  of  truth.  The  day 
of  historic  fable  is  past.  History  is  a  science.  The 
man  of  science  takes  but  little  on  authority  not  capable 
of  proof,  and  it  is  through  this  scientific  method  that 
the  humblest  mind,  capable  of  rational  judgment, 
becomes  supreme  over  itself. 

Note  12,  p.  34.  (4.)  That  Junius  had  a  private  grudge 
against  Lord  Granby,  is  an  affirmation  not  supjwrted 
by  the  facts.  Junius  himself  says,  in  a  note  to  Let- 
ter 7:  "The  death  of  Lord  Granby  was  lamented  by 
Junius.  He  undoubtedly  owed  some  comjxnisations  to 
the  public,  and  seemed  determineil  to  acquit  himself  of 
them.    In  private  life  he  was  unquestionably  that  good 


COMMENTS.  41 

man,  who,  for  the  interest  of  his  country,  ought  to 
have  been  a  great  one.  I  speak  of  him  now  without 
partiality.  I  never  spoke  of  him  with  resentment.  His 
mistakes  in  public  conduct  did  not  arise  either  from 
want  of  sentiment,  or  want  of  judgment,  but  in  general 
from  the  difficulty  of  saying  no  to  the  bad  people  who 
surrounded  him.^^ 

Note  13,  p.  36.  (5.)  To  which  I  reply:  every  student 
of  history  does  believe  just  the  things  ascribed  to  Lord 
Mansfield  by  Junius,  and  as  the  doctor  has  given  us 
no  authority  in  support  of  his  rash  affirmation,  I  will 
dismiss  him  to  the  tender  mercies  of  those  who  will 
search  for  themselves. 


ESTIMATE  OF  JUNIUS,  BY  MR.  BURKE.* 

How  coipes  this  Junius  to  have  broke  through  the 
cobwebs  of  the  Jaw,  and  to  range  uncontrolled,  un- 
punished, through  the  land  ?  The  myrmidons  of  the 
court  have  been  long,  and  are  still,  pursuing  him  in 
vain.  They  will  not  spend  their  time  upon  me,  or 
you,  or  you.  No;  they  disdain  such  vermin,  when 
the  mighty  boar  of  the  forest  that  has  broken  through 
all  their  toils,  is  before  them.  But  what  will  all  their 
efforts  avail?  No  sooner  has  he  wounded  one  than  he 
lays  another  dead  at  his  feet.  For  my  part,  when  I 
saw  his  attack  upon  the  king,  I  own  my  blood  ran 
cold.  I  thought  that  he  had  ventured  too  far,  and 
there  was  an  end  of  his  triumphs.  Not  that  he  had 
not  asserted  many  truths.  Yes,  sir,  there  are  in  that 
composition  many  bold  truths,  by  which  a  wise  prince 
might  profit.  It  was  the  rancor  and  venom  with 
which  I  was  struck.  In  these  respects  the  North 
Briton  is  as  much  inferior  to  him  as  in  strength,  wit, 
and  judgment.  Jiut  while  I  expected  in  this  daring 
flight  his  final  ruin  and  fall,  behold  him  rising  still 
higher,  and  (loming  down  souse  upon  both  houses  of 
Parliament.     Yes,  lie  did  make  you  his  quarry,  and 

*  From  a  speech  delivered  in  the  House  of  Commous. 
(42) 


ESTIMATE  BY  Mil.  BUI! KE.  43 

you  still  bleed  from  the  wounds  of  his  talons.  You 
crouched,  and  still  crouch,  beneath  his  rage.  Nor  has 
he  dreaded  the  terrors  of  your  brow,  sir  ;*  he  has  at- 
tacked even  you — he  has — and  I  believe  you  have  no 
reason  to  triumph  in  the  encounter.  In  short,  after 
carrying  away*  our  Royal  Eagle  in  his  pounces,  and 
dashing  him  against  a  rock,  he  has  laid  you  pros- 
trate. Kings,  Lords,  and  Commons  are  but  the  sport 
of  his  fury.  AVere  he  a  member  of  this  House,  what 
might  not  be  expected  from  his  knowledge,  his  firm- 
ness, and  integrity  ?  He  would  be  easily  known  by  his 
contempt  of  all  danger,  by  his  penetration,  by  his  vigor. 
Nothing  would  escape  his  vigilance  and  activity.  Bad 
ministers  could  conceal  nothing  from  his  sagacity ; 
nor  could  promises  or  threats  induce  him  to  conceal 
any  thing  from  the  public. 

*  Sir  Fletcher  Norton,  Speaker  of  the  House,  was 
distinguished  for  the  largeness  of  his  overhanging  eye- 
brows. 


SOCIAL  POSITION.  •  i 

What  was  tlie  position  of  Junius  in  society?  Was 
he  a  man  of  fortune  or  of  humble  means?  Was  he  a 
peer,  or  the  leader  of  a  party  or  faction,  or  was  he  one 
of  the  common  peo])le?  Let  Junius  tell.  In  his  reply 
to  Sir  William  Draper,  he  says:  *^I  will  not  contend 
with  you  in  point  of  composition — you  are  a  scholar, 
Sir  William,  and,  if  I  am  truly  informed,  you  write 
Latin  with  almost  as  nmch  purity  as  English.  Suffer 
me  then  (for  I  am  a  plain,  unlettered  man)  to  continue 
that  style  of  interrogation  which  suits  my  capacity." — 
Let.  7.  In  the  following  the  italics  are  Junius'.  He 
had  been  upbraided  by  Sir  William  for  his  assumed  sig- 
nature, and  replied:  "I  should  have  hoped  that  even 
my  name  might  carry  some  authority  with  it,  if  I  had 
not  seen  how  very  little  weight  or  consideration  a 
printed  ]>aper  receives,  even  from  the  respectable  signa- 
ture of  Sir  William  Draper." — Let.  3.  Again,  he  says: 
"  Mine,  I  confess,  are  humble  labors.  1  do  not  presume 
to  instruct  the  learned,  but  simply  to  inform  the  body 
of  the  p('()j)le,  and  I  prefer  that  channel  of  conveyance 
which  is  likely  to  spread  farthest  among  them." — Let. 
22.  Again:  "Welbore  Ellis,  what  say  you?  Is  this 
the  law  of  Parliament,  or  is  it  not?  I  am  a  ])lain  man, 
sir,  and  can  not  follow  you  through  the  phlegmatic  forms 
of  an  oration.  S|)eak  out,  Gildrigl  Say  yes  or  no." — 
(44) 


SOCIAL  POSITION.  45 

Let.  47.  Again:  *^I  speak  to  the  people  as  one  of  the 
people." — Let.  58.  In  Let.  57  he  says  he  is  a  ''  stranger  " 
to  the  Livery  of  London.  He  says,  also,  in  Let.  25,  to 
Sir  William  Draper:  *'I  believe,  sir,  you  will  never 
know  me.  A  considerable  time  must  certainly  elapse 
before  we  are  personally  acquainted.''  This  language  is 
not  equivocal.  They  neither  of  them  personally  knew 
the  other.  In  Let.  18  he  says  he  is  not  personally 
known  to  Mr.  Grenville,  a  member  of  the  House  of 
Commons.  Nor  was  he  a  collegian  or  lawyer.  In  Let. 
53  he  says :  "  I  speak  to  facts  with  which  all  of  us  are 
conversant.  I  speak  to  men  and  to  their  experience, 
and  Avill  not  descend  to  answer  the  little  sneering  soph- 
istries of  a  collegian.''  And  again:  "This  may  be 
logic  at  Cambridge,  or  at  the  treasury,  but  among  men 
of  sense  and  honor  it  is  folly  or  villainy  in  the  ex- 
treme." In  Let.  7  he  says  to  Sir  William  Draper: 
"An  academical  education  has  given  you  an  unlimited 
command  over  the  most  beautiful  figures  of  speech. 
Masks,  hatchets,  racks,  and  vipers  dance  through  your 
letters  in  all  the  mazes  of  metaphorical  confusion."  This 
is  one  of  Junius'  most  withering  sarcasms.  In  his  Pre- 
face he  says :  "  I  am  no  lawyer  by  profession,  nor  do  I 
pretend  to  be  more  deeply  read  than  every  English  gen- 
tleman should  be  in  the  laws  of  his  country."  .  .  . 
"  I  speak  to  the  plain  understanding  of  the  people,  and 
appeal  to  their  honest,  liberal  construction  of  me."  And 
of  the  Letters  he  says  in  the  Dedication:  "To  me,  orig- 
inal ly^  they  owe  nothing  but  a  healthy,  sanguine  con- 
stitution." 

Now,  from  the  above  facts,  and  the  method  of  elimi- 
nation, it  may  be  affirmed,  Junius  was  not  prominent  be- 


46  JUNIUS  UNMASKED. 

fore  the  English  nation.  He  waa  not  a  peer,  nor  mem- 
ber of  the  House  of  Commons.  He  could  not  have 
been  an  army  officer.  He  was  not  a  collegian,  nor  a 
lawyer.  What,  then,  was  he?  Just  what  he  says  him- 
self to  be:  **one  of  the  common  people,  with  a  healthy, 
sanguine  constitution,"  but  by  no  means  without  genius, 
education,  and  practical  knowledge. 


JUNIUS  NOT  A  PARTISAN. 

But  let  us  continue  the  method  of  elimination  till 
we  find  his  true  position.  Because  we  can  not  safely 
affirm  what  he  was,  till  we  know  in  some  particulars, 
what  he  was  not;  and  it  is  thus  the  spirit  and  object  of 
Junius  may  be  made  visible.  I  affirm,  therefore,  Ju- 
nius was  not  a  partisan.  In  proof  of  which  I  submit 
the  following,  from  Let.  58,  to  the  study  of  the  reader: 

"  No  man  laments  more  sincerely  than  I  do  the  un- 
happy differences  which  have  arisen  among  the  friends 
of  the  people,  and  divided  them  from  each  other.  The 
cause,  undoubtedly,  suffers  as  well  by  the  diminution 
of  that  strength  which  union  carries  along  with  it,  as  by 
the  separate  loss  of  personal  reputation,  which  every 
man  sustains  when  his  character  and  conduct  are  fre- 
quently held  forth  in  odious  or  contemptible  colors. 
The  differences  are  only  advantageous  to  the  common 
enemy*  of  the  country.  The  hearty  friends  of  the  cause 
are  provoked  and  disgusted.  The  lukewarm  advocate 
avails  himself  of  any  pretense,  to  relapse  into  that  indo- 
lent indifference  about  every  thing  that  ought  to  inter- 
est an  Englishman,  so  unjustly  dignified  with  the  title 
of  moderation.  The  false,  insidious  partisan,  who  cre- 
ates or  foments  the  disorder,  sees  the  fruit  of  his  dis- 

*King,  ministers,  and  parliament. 

(47) 


48  JUNIUS  UNMASKED, 

honest  industry  ripen  beyond  his  hopes,  and  rejoices  in 
the  promise  of  a  banquet,  only  delicious  to  such  an  ap- 
petite as  his  own.  It  is  time  for  those  who  really  mean 
the  Cause  and  the  People,  who  have  no  view  to  private 
advantage,  and  who  have  virtue  enough  to  prefer  the 
general  good  of  the  community  to  the  gratification  of 
personal  animosities — it  is  time  for  such  men  to  inter- 
pose. Let  us  try  whether  these  fatal  dissensions  may 
not  yet  be  reconciled;  or,  if  that  be  impracticable,  let 
us  guard,  at  least,  against  the  worst'  efiPects  of  division, 
and  endeavor  to  persuade  these  furious  partisans,  if  they 
will  not  consent  to  draw  together,  to  be  separately  use- 
ful to  that  cause  which  they  all  pretend  to  be  attached 
to.  Honor  and  honesty  must  not  be  renounced,  although 
a  thousand  modes  of  right  and  wrong  were  to  occu})y 
the  degrees  of  morality  between  Zeno  and  Epicurus. 
The  fundamental  principles  of  Christianity  may  still  be 
preserved,  though  every  zealous  sectary  adheres  to  his 
own  exclusive  doctrine,  and  pious  ecclesiastics  make  it 
a  part  of  their  religion  to  persecute  one  another.  The 
civil  constitution,  too — that  legal  liberty,  that  general 
creed  which  every  Englishman  professes — may  still  be 
supported,  though  Wilkes  and  Home,  and  Townsend 
and  Sawbridge,  should  obstinately  refuse  to  communi- 
cate; and  even  if  the  fathers  of  the  Church— if  Saville, 
Richmond,  Camden,  Rockingham,  and  Chatham  should 
disagree  in  the  ceremonies  of  their  j)()litical  woi'ship, 
and  even  in  the  interpretation  of  twenty  texts  of  Magna 
Charta.  I  speak  to  the  people  as  one  of  the  people. 
Let  us  employ  these  men  in  whatever  departments  their 
various  abilities  arc  best  suited  to,  and  as  much  to  the 
advantage  of  the  common  cause  as  their  difiereut  iucli- 


NOT  A  PARTISAN.  49 

nations  will  permit.  They  can  not  serve  us  without 
essentially  serving  themselves." 

Ill  the  above  Junius  places  himself  on  the  side  of 
the  people,  and  clearly  above  all  party  or  faction. 
But  he  continues  : 

''  I  have  too  much  respect  for  the  abilities  of  Mr. 
Home,  to  flatter  myself  that  these  gentlemen  will  ever 
be  cordially  re-united.  It  is  not,  however,  unreason- 
able to  expect,  that  each  of  them  should  act  his  separ- 
ate part  with  honor  and  integrity  to  the  public.  As 
for  differences  of  opinion  upon  speculative  questions,  if 
we  wait  until  they  are  reconciled,  the  action  of  human 
affairs  must  be  suspended  forever.  But  neither  are  we 
to  look  for  perfection  in  any  one  man,  nor  for  agree- 
ment among  many.  When  Lord  Chatham  affirms 
that  the  authority  of  the  British  legislature  is  not  su- 
preme over  the  colonies  in  the  same  sense  in  which  it 
is  supreme  over  Great  Britain ;  when  Lord  Camden 
supposes  a  necessity  (which  the  king  is  to  judge  of), 
and,  founded  upon  that  necessity,  attributes  to  the 
crown  a  legal  power  (not  given  by  the  act  itself)  to 
suspend  the  operation  of  an  act  of  the  legislature,  I 
listen  to  them  both,  with  diffidence  and  respect,  but 
without  the  smallest  degree  of  conviction  or  assent. 
Yet  I  doubt  not  they  delivered  their  real  sentiments, 
nor  ought  they  to  be  hastily  condemned.  ...  I  mean 
only  to  illustrate  one  useful  proposition,  which  it  is  the 
intention  of  this  paper  to  inculcate,  ^  That  we  should 
not  generally  reject  the  friendship  or  services  of  any 
man  because  he  differs  from  us  in  a  particular  opinion.' 
This  will  not  appear  a  superfluous  caution,  if  we  ob- 
serve the  ordinary  conduct   of  mankind.     In   public 


50  JUNIUS  UNMASKED. 

affairs,  there  is  the  least  cliance  of  a  perfect  concur- 
rence of  sentiment  or  inclination ;  yet  every  man  is 
able  to  contribute  something  to  the  common  stock, 
and  no  man^s  contribution  should  be  rejected.  If 
individuals  have  no  virtues,  their  vices  may  be  of  use 
to  us.  I  care  not  with  what  principle  the  new-born 
patriot  is  animated,  if  the  measures  he  supports  are 
beneficial  to  the  community.  The  nation  is  interested 
in  his  conduct.  His  motives  are  his  own.  The  proper- 
ties of  a  patriot  are  perishable  in  the  individual ;  but 
there  is  a  quick  succession  of  subjects,  and  the  breed  is 
worth  preserving.  The  spirit  of  the  Americans  may 
be  an  useful  example  to  us.  Our  dogs  and  horses  are 
only  P]nglish  upon  English  ground ;  but  patriotism,  it 
seems,  may  be  improved  by  transplanting.  I  will  not 
reject  a  bill  which  tends  to  confine  parliamentary 
privilege  within  reasonable  bounds,  though  it  should 
be  stolen  from  the  house  of  Cavendish,  and  introduced 
by  Mr.  Onslow.  The  features  of  the  infant  are  a 
j)roof  of  the  descent,  and  vindicate  the  noble  birth 
from   the   baseness   of  the   adoption.*     I   will   will- 

*That  the  render  may  see  the  value  Junius  placed 
on  siicli  men  as  Onslow,  I  will  place  before  him  a 
short  address  of  Junius  to  the  king:  "As  you  are 
a  young  man,  sir,  who  ought  to  have  a  life  of  happi- 
ness in  ])r()spoct ;  as  you  arc  a  husband,  as  you  are  a 
fatlier  (your  filial  duties  1  own  have  been  religiously 
iKirf'ormcd),  is  it  bona  fide  for  your  interest  or  your 
honor,  to  saerlfiee  your  don)estic  trajiquillity,  and  to 
live  in  ])erpetual  disagreement  with  your  peopU%  merely 
to  preserve  such  a  chain  of  beings  as  North,  Barring- 
ton,  Weymouth,  Gower,  Kllis,  Onslow,  Rigby,  Jerry 
Dvson,  and  Sandwich?     Their  verv  names  are  a  satire 


NOT  A  PABTISAN.  51 

ingly  accept  a  sarcasm  from  Colonel  Barr^,*  or  a 
simile  from  Mr.  Burke.f  Even  the  silent  vote  of 
Mr.  Calcraft  is  worth  reckoning  in  a  division.  What 
though  he  riots  in  the  plunder  of  the  army,  and  has 
only  determined  to  be  a  patriot  when  he  could  not  be 
a  peer  ?  Let  us  profit  by  the  assistance  of  such  men 
while  they  are  with  us,  and  place  them,  if  it  be  possi- 
ble, in  the  post  of  danger  to  prevent  desertion.  The 
wary  Wedderburne,  the  pompous  Suffolk,  never  threw 
away  the  scabbard,  nor  over  went  upon  a  forlorn  hope. 
They  always  treated  the  king's  servants  as  men  with 
whom,  some  time  or  other,  they  might  probably  be  in 
friendship.     When    a  man   who    stands  forth  for  the 

upon  all  government,  and  I  defy  the  gravest  of  your 
chaplains  to   read   the   catalogue  without    laughing.^^ 

*  Isaac  Barr^  defended  the  colonies  and  opposed  the 
Stamp  Act  in  the  House  of  Commons  with  ^'a  display 
of  eloquence,  which  astonished  all  who  heard  him.'' 
When  the  ministry  in  1771  tried  to  suppress  the  prac- 
tice of  reporting  the  parliamentary  debates,  he  de- 
nounced them  and  the  House  of  Commons  in  the 
strongest  and  most  sarcastic  terms;  and  after  closing 
his  speech  he  ^'  left  the  house,  calling  upon  every  honest 
man  to  follow  him.''  The  letters  of  Junius  were 
afterwards  attributed  to  him. 

f  "^  simile  from  Mr.  BurheJ^  One  is  here  forcibly 
reminded  how  prophetic  this  sarcasm  is  of  what  Mr. 
Paine  will  say  in  his  Rights  of  Man,  of  Mr.  Burke's 
imagery ;  "  I  have  now  to  follow  Mr.  Burke  through  a 
])athless  wilderness  of  rhapsodies."  .  .  .  '^  His  inten- 
tion was  to  make  an  attack  on  the  French  revolution  ; 
but  instead  of  proceeding  with  an  orderly  arrangement 
he  has  stormed  it  with  a  mob  of  ideas,  tumbling  over 
and  destroying  one  another." 
4 


52  JUNIUS   UNMASKED. 

public,  has  gone  that  length  from  which  there  is  no 
practicable  retreat,  when  he  has  given  that  kind  of 
personal  offense,  which  a  pious  monarch  never  par- 
dons, 1  then  begin  to  think  him  in  earnest,  and  that  he 
will  never  liave  occasion  to  solicit  the  forgiveness  of 
his  country.  But  instances  of  a  determination  so  en- 
tire and  unreserved  are  rarely  to  be  met  with.  Let 
us  take  mankind  as  they  are;  let  us  distribute  the  vir- 
tues and  abilities  of  individuals,  according  to  the  of- 
fices they  affect;  and  when  they  quit  the  service,  let 
us  endeavor  to  supply  their  places  with  better  men 
than  we  have  lost.  In  this  country  there  are  always 
candidates  enough  for  popular  favor.  The  temj)le 
of  fame  is  the  shortest  passage  to  riches  and  prefer- 
ment. 

Above  all  things,  let  me  guard  my  countrymen 
against  the  meanness  and  folly  of  accepting  of  a  trifling 
or  moderate  compensation  for  extraordinary  and  essen- 
tial injuries.  Our  enemy  treats  us  as  the  cunning 
trader  does  the  unskillful  Indian  ;  they  magnify  their 
generosity,  when  they  give  us  baubles  of  little  propor- 
tionate value  for  ivory  and  gold.  The  same  House  of 
Commons  who  robbed  the  constituent  body  of  their 
right  of  free  election;  who  presume  to  make  a  law,  un- 
der pretense  of  declaring  it;  who  paid  our  good  king's 
debts,  without  once  inquiring  how  they  were  incurred; 
who  gave  thanks  for  repeated  murders  committed  at 
homeland  for  national  infamy  incurred  abroad;  who 
screened  Lord  Mansfield  ;  who  imprisoned  the  magis- 
trates of  the  metropolis  for  asserting  the  subjects'  right 
to  the  protection  of  the  laws;  who  erased  a  judicial  rec- 
ord, and  ordered  all  proceedings  in  criminal  suit  to  be 


NOT  A  PARTISAN.  53 

suspended ;  this  very  House  of  Commons  have  gracious- 
ly consented  that  their  own  members  may  be  compelled 
to  pay  their  debts,  and  that  contested  elections  >shall, 
for  the  future,  be  determined  with  some  decent  regard 
to  the  merits  of  the  case.  The, event  of  the  suit  is  of 
no  consequence  to  the  crown.  While  parliaments  are 
septennial,  the  purchase  of  the  sitting  member  or  of  the 
petitioner,  makes  but  the  difference  of  a  day.  Conces- 
sions such  as  these,  are  of  little  moment  to  the  sum  of 
things;  unless  it  be  to  prove  that  the  worst  of  men  are 
sensible  of  the  injuries  they  have  done  us,  and  perhaps 
to  demonstrate  to  us  the  imminent  danger  of  our  situa- 
tion. In  the  shipwreck  of  the  state,  trifles  float,  and 
are  preserved ;  while  every  thing  solid  and  valuable 
sinks  to  the  bottom,  and  is  lost  forever.'^ 

Nor  did  Junius  ever  receive  pay  for  his  writings. 
The  charges  made  against  him  are  thus  briefly  disposed 
of:  "  To  write  for  profit,  without  taxing  the  press ;  to 
write  for  fame,  and  to  be  unknown ;  to  support  the  in- 
trigues of  faction,  and  to  be  disowned  as  a  dangerous 
auxiliary  by  every  party  in  the  kingdom,  are  contra- 
dictions which  the  minister  must  reconcile  before  I  for- 
feit my  credit  with  the  public.  I  may  quit  the  service, 
but  it  would  be  absurd  to  charge  me  with  desertion. 
The  reputation  of  these  papers  is  an  honorable  pledge 

for  my  attachment  to  the  people But, 

in  truth,  sir,  I  have  left  no  room  for  an  accommodation 
with  the  piety  of  St.  James'.  My  offenses  are  not  to 
be  redeemed  by  recantation  or  repentance.  On  one 
side,  our  warmest  patriots  would  disclaim  me  as  a  bur- 
then to  their  honest  ambition.     On  the  other,  the  vilest 


54  JUNIUS  •  UNMA8KED, 

prostitution,  if  Junius  could  descend  to  it,  would  lose 
its  natural  merit  and  influence  in  the  cabinet,  and 
treachery  be  no  longer  a  recommendation  to  the  royal 
favor." — Let.  44.  "  He  is  not  paid  for  his  labor,  and 
certainly  has  a  right  to  choose  his  employment." — Let. 
63.  "  As  for  myself,  it  *is  no  longer  a  question  whether 
I  shall  mix  with  the  throng  and  take  a  single  share  in 
the  danger.  Whenever  Junius  appears  he  must  en- 
counter a  host  of  enemies.  But  is  there  no  honorable 
way  to  serve  the  public  without  engaging  in  personal 
quarrels  with  insignificant  individuals,  or  submitting  to 
the  drudgery  of  canvassing  votes  for  an  election  ?  Is 
there  no  merit  in  dedicating  my  life  to  the  information 
of  my  fellow-subjects?  What  public  question  have  I 
declined?  What  villain  have  I  spared?  Is  there  no 
labor  in  the  composition  of  these  letters  ?" — Let.  53. 

In  compiling  the  Letters,  he  says  in  his  Preface: 
"  The  printer  will  readily  acquit  me  of  any  view  to 
my  own  profit.  I  undertake  this  troublesome  task 
merely  to  serve  a  man  who  has  deserved  well  of  me  and 
the  public,  and  who,  on  my  account,  has  been  exposed 
loan  expensive,  tyrannical  prosecution."  This  was  Mr. 
Woodfall,  publisher  of  the  Puhlic  Advertiser, 

I  am  now  prepared  to  ask:  What,  then,  was  the 
object  of  Junius?  What  does  he  mean  by  "The  Cause 
and  the  People ".?  To  what  Cause  has  he  "  tMicated  his 
life^^f  and  which,  if  he  should  desert,  would  be  the 
"vilest  prostitution?^'  Why  this  great  zeal  and  disiu- 
terest(Ml  benevolence?  Aloof  from  party,  unknown  to 
the  public,  writing  for  neither  fame  nor  favor,  what  is 
the  meaning  of  this  literary  adventurer? 


A  REVOLUTIONIST. 

The  object  of  Junius  was  to  produce  a  revolution  in 
England,  to  dethrone  the  king,  depose  the  ministry, 
dissolve  Parliament,  and  bring  the  constitution  back  to 
its  original  principles.  He  defends,  at  the  same  time, 
the  action  of  the  American  colonies,  and  encourages 
them  to  move  on  with  the  work. 

It  is,  perhaps,  noticeable  to  the  historian,  and  espe- 
cially if  he  studies  the  causes  of  human  action,  that 
great  movements  in  behalf  of  human  weal  are  at  no 
given  time  confined  to  a  particular  locality,  but  that 
they,  in  a  measure,  span  the  world.  They  at  least  ra- 
diate till  they  affect  the  whole  of  a  particular  type  of 
mankind.  Nor  is  this  attributable  altogether  to  com- 
merce and  a  social  interchange  of  thought,  for  these 
take  time;  but  it  seems  as  though,  at  times,  convulsions 
of  thought  instantaneously  affect  great  classes  of  people 
widely  separated  by  ocean  or  country.  The  study  of 
mobs  and  riots  in  America,  England,  and  France  would 
lead  to  this  conclusion.  It  is,  however,  not  a  mooted 
point,  that  the  same  cause  which  moved  the  colonies  to 
action  just  prior  to  the  revolution,  at  the  same  time  con- 
vulsed the  English  nation.     The  tyranny  of  king,  min- 

(55) 


56  JUNIUS  UNMASKED, 

isters,  and  Parliament  put  its  heel  on  the  neck  of  Eng- 
lishmen as  well  as  Americans.  The  j)eople  rose  in 
rebellion  there  as  well  as  here.  Patriots  arose  in  Eng- 
land as  well  as  in  America,  and  foremost  among  them 
all  was  Junius,  for  he  fought  the  battle  of  freedom  for 
the  whole  world. 

But  that  Junius  meant  war  in  England,  is  evident 
from  almost  every  letter.  I  will  give  a  few  extracts  in 
proof.  In  his  Dedication  he  says:  *' Although  the 
king  should  continue  to  support  his  present  system  of 
government,  the  jieriod  is  not  very  distant  at  which 
you  will  have  the  means  of  redress  in  your  own  power: 
it  may  be  nearer,  perhaps,  than  any  of  us  expect ;  and 
I  would  warn  you  to  be  prepared  for  it."  If  Thomas 
Paine  wrote  the  Letters  of  Junius,  he  said  this  just  be- 
fore departing  for  America. 

In  his  address  to  the  Livery  of  London,  he  says,  in 
regard  to  the  candidates  for  election  :  "Will  they  grant 
you  common  halls  when  it  shall  be  necessary?  Will 
they  go  up  with  remonstrances  to  the  king?  Have 
they  firmness  enough  to  meet  the  fury  of  a  venal  House 
of  Commons?  Have  they  fortitude  enough  not  to 
shrink  at  imprisonment?  Have  they  spirit  enough 
to  hazard  their  lives  and  fortunes  in  a  contest ^  if  it 
should  be  necessary,  with  a  prostituted  legislature?  If 
these  questions  can  fairly  be  answered  in  the  affirma- 
tive, your  choice  is  made.  For<rive  this  passionate  lan- 
guage. I  am  unable  to  correct  it.  The  subject  comes 
home  to  us  all.  It  is  the  language  of  my  heart." — Let. 
57.  Upon  the  aj)i)ointment  of  Luttrell  as  adjutant- 
general,  and  who,  tliereu])on,  takes  command  of  the 
army  in  Ireland,  Junius  says:     "My  Lord,  though  it 


A  REVOLUTIONIST.  57 

may  not  be  possible  to  trace  this  measure  to  its  source, 
we  can  follow  the  stream,  and  warn  the  country  of  its 
approaching  destruction.  The  English  nation  must  be 
roused  and  put  upon  its  guard.  Mr.  Luttrell  has 
already  shown  us  how  far  he  may  be  trusted,  when- 
ever an  open  attack  is  to  be  made  upon  the  liberties  of 
this  country.  I  do  not  doubt  that  there  is  a  deliberiite 
plan  formed.  Your  lordship  best  knows  by  whom. 
The  corruption  of  the  legislative  body  on  this  side,  a 
military  force  on  the  other,  and  then,  farewell  to  Eng- 
lancV—Lei.  40.  Addressed  to  Lord  North.  The 
italics  are  his  own. 

Speaking  of  the  king,  he  says:  "If  he  loves  his 
people,  he  will  dissolve  the  parliament  which  they  can 
never  confide  in  or  respect.  If  he  has  any  regard  for 
his  own  honor,  he  will  disdain  to  be  any  longer  con- 
nected with  such  abandoned  prostitution.  But  if  it 
were  conceivable  [and  it  was  with  Junius]  that  a 
king  of  this  country  had  lost  all  sense  of  personal  hon- 
or, and  all  concern  for  the  welfare  of  nis  subjects,  I 
confess,  sir,  I  should  be  contented  to  renounce  the  forms 
of  the  constitution  once  more,  if  there  were  no  other 
way  to  obtain  substantial  justice  for  the  people.^^ — Let. 
44.  Any  one  who  is  acquainted  with  the  English  con- 
stitution knows  that  "its  forms''  can  not  be  renounced 
without  a  revolution.  And  as  to  his  opinion  of  the 
king,  he  says,  "  his  virtues  had  ceased  to  be  a  question." 
.  .  .  "  The  man  I  speak  of  [the  king]  has  not  a  heart 
to  feel  for  the  frailties  of  his  fellow  creatures.  It  is  their 
virtues  that  afflict,  it  is  tlieir  vices  that  console  him.'' — 
Let.  53.     But  this  will  be  brought  out  more  strongly 


58  JUNIUS  UNMASKED. 

in  my  ParnUeh,  and  I  will  leave  it  here  and  pass  on  to 
speak  of  liis  sympathy  with  the  colonies. 

It  has  ])erhaps  been  already  noticed  by  the  reader, 
that  Junius,  in  the  extracts  given,  spoke  in  the  most 
respectful  terms  of  the  colonies.  But  when  he  says: 
"TUie  .sj)irit  of  the  Americans  may  be  an  useful  exam- 
ple to  us;'^  and,  '^patriotism  may  be  improved  by  trans- 
plantino^,''  he  meant  more  than  praise  of  the  colonies. 
He  meant  to  stir  up  the  English  nation  to  action  and 
rebellion.  He  speaks  of  the  affections  of  the  colonies 
as  having  been  **  alienated  from  their  common  country'' 
by  a  series  of  inconsistent  measures. — Let.  1  and  I^et. 
3.  But  in  no  instance  does  he  blame  them.  In  his 
address  to  the  king,  he  says :  "  The  distance  of  the 
colonies  would  make  it  impossible  for  them  to  take  an 
active  concern  in  your  affairs,  if  they  were  as  well 
affected  to  your  government  as  they  once  pretended  to 
be  to  your  person.  They  are  ready  enough  to  distin- 
guish between  you  and  your  ministers.  They  com- 
j)lained  of  an  act  of  the  legislature,  but  tmced  the 
origin  of  it  no  higher  than  to  the  servants  of  the  crown ; 
they  pleased  themselves  with  the  hope  that  their  sov- 
ereign, if  not  favorable  to  their  cause,  at  least  was  im- 
])artial.  ^  They  consider  you  as  united  with  your 
servants  against  America;  and  know  how  to  distin- 
guish the  sovereign  and  a  venal  parliament  on  one  side, 
from  the  real  sentiments  of  the  English  people  on  the 
other.  Looking  forward  to  inde|H'ndence,  they  might 
jH)ssibly  receive  you  for  their  Uing;  but  if  ever  you  rt»- 
tire  to  America  [this  would  be  after  Junius  had 
effected  a  revolution  in  England],  be  assured  they  will 


A  REVOLUTIONIST.  59 

give  you  such  a  covenant  to  digest  as  the  presbytery  of 
Scotland  would  have  been  ashamed  to  oifer  to  Charles 
the  Second.  They  left  their  native  land  in  search  of 
freedom,  and  found  it  in  a  desert.  Divided,  as  they 
are,  into  a  thousand  forms  of  policy  and  religion,  there 
is  one  point  in  which  they  all  agree :  they  equally  de- 
test the  pageantry  of  a  king,  and  the  supercilious  hy- 
pocrisy of  a  bishop." — Let.  35.  Oliver  Cromwell  he 
calls  an  "accomplished  president,"  and  extols  his 
genius. — Let.  14.  Much  more  could  be  given  of  the 
same  nature,  but  this  is  sufficient. 


REVIEW  OF  JUNIUS. 

I  WISH  the  reader  to  catch  the  spirit  of  Junius,  and 
to  tliis  end  I  will  briefly  review  the  book. 

Junius,  before  beginnin*;^,  has  an  orderly  plan  for 
his  literary  campaign.  He  opens  it  with  the  new 
year,  and  closes  it  with  the  same.  He  begins  with  a 
full  and  sweeping  broadside  at  king,  ministers,  and 
parliament,  at  the  same  time  defending  the  English 
pe()])le  and  the  American  colonies.  He  knew  this 
would  call  forth  a  return  fire,  for  which  he  held  him- 
self in  readiness.  He  expected  a  defense  of  the 
Duke  of  Grafton,  but  was  disapj)()int(>d  in  this,  for  it 
came  from  Sir  William  Draper,  in  behalf  of  Lord 
Grunby.  After  he  had  temporarily  silenced  this  gun, 
the  last  shot  from  Sir  William  being,  "Cease,  viper!" 
he  pours  charge  after  charge  into  Grafton,  the  prime 
miuistcr.  He  docs  not  attack  the  king  at  this  time, 
for  the  reason  that  "  it  had  been  a  maxim  of  the  Eng- 
lish government,  not  unwillingly  admitted  by  the  jhk)- 
])le,  that  every  ungracious  or  severe  exertion  of  the  pre- 
rogative should  be  placed  to  the  account  of  the  minis- 
ter; but  that  whenever  an  a(^t  of  grace  or  Iwnevolenee 
was  to  be  [)erlbrmed,  the  whole  merit  of  it  should  be 
attributable  to  the  sovereign  himself."  That  is,  the 
maxim  tliat  "The  king  can  do  no  wrong,"  was  yet 
(00) 


HE  VIEW  OF  JUNIUS.  61 

admitted  by  the  people,  and  for  Junius  to  attack 
the  king  instead  of  the  prime  minister,  would  have 
thwarted  his  design,  which  was,  as  before  stated,  Revo- 
lution. Nor  does  Junius  dare  to  assault  the  throne  till 
he  has  brought  forth  a  response  in  defense  of  Grafton, 
knowing  that  when  it  came  it  must  reflect  on  the  king. 
The  last  of  May  of  the  first  year  he  had  brought  all 
his  charges  against  Grafton,  and  to  them  there  had 
been  no  response  but  "  the  flat  general  charge  of  scur- 
rility and  falsehood/'  This  Junius  did  not  deign  to 
answer.  He  now  appears  over  tlie  signature  of  Philo 
Junius,  compiling  the  facts  and  giving  them  in  their 
order.  The  principle  charges  were  :  an  invasion  upon 
"the  first  rights  of  the  people  and  the  first  principles 
of  the  constitution"  by  the  arbitrary  appointment  of 
Mr.  Luttrell  as  a  member  of  the  House  of  Commons 
in  the  place  of  Mr.  Wilkes,  who,  at  the  king's  so- 
licitation, had  been  expelled :  the  disgraceful  conduct 
of  Grafton  in  associating  with  a  prostitute  in  public  : 
the  charge  of  bastardy  upon  the  duke :  the  desertion 
of  Lord  Chatham  :  the  betrayal  of  Rockingham  and 
Wilkes :  his  vascillating  and  weak  action  in  regard  to 
the  colonies :  and  marrying  the  near  relative  of  a  man 
who  had  debauched  his  wife.  But  nothing  could  pro- 
voke any  reply  worthy  of  an  answer  by  Junius  till  he, 
near  the  close  of  the  year,  brought  forward  the  charge 
against  Grafton  of  "  selling  a  patent  place  in  the  col- 
lection of  customs  at  Exeter  to  one  Mr.  Hine."  Junius 
says  of  this:  "No  sale  by  the  candle  was  ever  con- 
ducted with  greater  formality.  I  thank  God !  there  is 
not  in  human  nature  a  degree  of  impudence  daring 
enough  to  deny  the  charge  I  have  fixed  upon  you."    To 


62  JUNIUS  UNMASKED. 

aggravate  tliis  charge,  Junius  works  up  another,  which 
is  as  follows:  "A  little  before  the  publication  of  this 
and  the  preceding  letter,  the  Duke  of  Grafton  had 
comfuenced  a  prosecution  against  Mr.  Samuel  Vaughan 
for  endeavoring  to  corrupt  his  integrity  by  an  offer  of 
five  thousand  pounds  for  a  patent  place  in  Jamaica/* 
But  now  the  duke  is  charged  by  Junius  with  the  ac- 
ceptance of  a  bribe  from  Mr.  Hine,  and  to  save  the 
duke  from  impeachment,  and  Lord  Mansfield  from 
embarrassment,  the  prosecution  is  immediately  drop- 
ped. See  Let.  34.  In  a  note  to  the  above  Letter  Junius 
says :  "  From  the  pul)lication  of  the  preceding  to  this 
date,  not  one  word  was  said  in  defense  of  the  Duke  of 
Grafton.  But  vice  and  impudence  soon  regained 
themselves,  and  the  sale  of  the  royal  favor  was  openly 
avowed  and  defended.  We  acknowledge  the  piety  of 
St.  James',  but  what  has  become  of  its  morality  ?  '^ 

It  is  now  the  12th  of  December,  and  on  the  19th 
Junius  assaults  the  throne.  Till  now  there  was  no 
opportunity  offered,  for  up  to  this  time  the  king  stood 
within  the  impregnable  fortress,  "The  king  can  do  no 
wrong."  Junius,  while  he  acknowledges  this  maxim, 
does  so  merely  to  get  the  ear  of  the  king,  for  he  after- 
ward in  his  Preface  takes  occasion  to  place  himself 
right  before  the  public.  But  having  once  entei'ed  the 
king\s  castle,  he  makes  George  the  Third  the  most 
insignificant  and  detestable  object  on  earth.  It  is  the 
most  powerful  piece  of  satire  against  kingcraft  in  the 
English  language,  and  while  it  remains  to  be  read  by 
the  i)eople,  kings  may  look  on  and  tremble.  Junius 
also  in  this  not  only  hints  xmry  but  threatens  revolution, 
lu  closing  be  says :  "  But  this  is  not  a  time  to  trifle 


REVIEW  OF  JUNIUS.  63 

with  your  fortune.  They  deceive  you,  sir,  who  tell  you 
that  you  have  many  friends  whose  affections  are  founded 
upon  a  principle  of  personal  attachment.  The  fortune 
which  made  you  a  king  forbade  you  to  have  a  friend. 
It  is  a  law  of  nature  which  can  not  be  violated  with 
impunity.  The  mistaken  prince  who  looks  for  friend- 
ship, will  find  a  favorite,  and  in  that  favorite  the  ruin 
of  his  affairs."  And  the  closing  sentence  is :  "  While 
he  plumes  himself  upon  the  security  of  his  title  to  the 
crown,  should  remember,  that,  as  it  was  acquired  by 
one  revolution,  it  may  be  lost  by  another.'^ — Let.  35. 

But  Junius  failed  to  produce  the  desired  effect.  The 
spirit  of  revolution  was  now  at  its  height.  The  ocean 
must  ebb.  A  reaction  follows,  and  during  two  years 
more  Junius  strives  to  put  new  life  into  the  flagging 
energies  of  his  countrymen,  and  to  kindle  anew  the  fire 
of  liberty.     But  the  flame  goes  out. 

The  commons  have  been  corrupted  by  the  king,  and 
now  the  lords  give  way :  "  The  three  branches  of  the 
legislature  (king,  lords,  and  commons)  seem  to  treat 
their  separate  rights  and  interests  as  the  Eoman  trium- 
virs did  their  friends ;  they  reciprocally  sacrifice  them  to 
the  animosities  of  each  other,  and  establish  a  detestable 
union  among  themselves  upon  the  ruin  of  the  laws  and 
liberty  of  the  commonwealth." — Let.  39. 

Of  the  House  of  Lords  he  says  :  "  By  resolving  that 
they  had  no  right  to  impeach  a  judgment  of  the  House 
of  Commons  in  any  case  whatsoever,  where  that  house 
has  a  competent  jurisdiction,  they  in  effect  gave  up  that 
constitutional  check  and  reciprocal  control  of  one 
branch  of  the  legislature  over  the  other,  which  is,  per- 
haps, the  greatest  and  most  important  object  provided 


64  JUNIUS  UNMASKED. 

for  by  the  division  of  the  whole  legislative  power  into 
three  estates ;  and  now  let  the  judicial  decisions  of  the 
House  of  Commons  be  ever  so  extravagant,  let  their 
declarations  of  law  be  ever  so  flagrantly  false,  arbitrary, 
and  oppressive  to  the  subject,  the  House  of  Lords  have 
imjwsed  a  slavish  silence  upon  themselves;  they  can  not 
interpose  ;  they  can  not  protect  the  subject ;  they  can  not 
defend  the  laws  of  their  country.  A  concession  so 
extraordinary  in  itself,  so  contradictory  to  the  principles 
of  their  own  institution,  can  not  but  alarm  the  most 
unsuspecting  mind." — Let.  39.  Junius,  in  a  note  to 
this  Letter,  calls  for  a  leader  upon  this  state  of  facts : 
"  The  man  who  resists  and  overcomes  this  iniquitous 
l)()\ver  assumed  by  the  lords,  must  be  supported  by  the 
whole  j)eople.  We  have  the  laws  on  our  side,  and  want 
nothing  but  an  interpid  leader.  When  such  a  man 
stands  forth,  let  the  nation  look  to  it.  It  is  not  his 
cause,  but  our  own." 

But  the  leader  did  not  come,  and  Junius  is  no  more 
known  to  England.  After  such  declarations  it  would 
outrage  all  degrees  of  probability  to  suppose  that 
Junius  revealed  himself  to  the  king  and  ministry,  and 
that  they  conferred  on  him  a  fat  office  for  what  he  had 
written.  I  will  not  insult  the  common  sense  of  my 
readers  by  offering  an  argument  against  it,  foundinl  upon 
the  laws  of  human  natiu'e.  And  yet.  Lord  Maraulay 
has  surrendered  his  reason  to  just  such  an  assumj>tion. 
Had  Junius  ever  revealed  himself  to  the  king  and  his 
"  detestable  junto,"  that  would  have  been  the  last  of 
him. 

Before  I  take  my  leave  of  Junius,  I  will  give  two 
extracts  in  which  he  sotnids,  to  arms  I 


REVIEW  OF  JUNIUS.  65 

He  is  addressing  the  Duke  of  Grafton:  ^'You  have 
now  brought  the  merits  of  your  administration  to  an 
issue,  on  which  every  Englishman,  of  the  narrowest  ca- 
pacity, may  determine  for  himself;  it  is  not  an  alarm 
to  the  passions,  but  a  calm  appeal  to  the  judgment  of 
the  people  upon  their  own  most  essential  interests.  A 
more  experienced  minister  would  not  have  hazarded  a 
direct  invasion  of  the  first  principles  of  the  constitution 
before  he  had  made  some  progress  in  subduing  the  spirit 
of  the  people.  With  such  a  cause  as  yours,  my  lord,  it 
is  not  sufficient  that  you  have  the  court  at  your  devo- 
tion, unless  you  find  means  -to  corrupt  or  intimidate  the 
jury.  The  collective  body  of  the  people  form  that  jury, 
and  from  their  decision  there  is  but  one  appeal. 
Whether  you  have  talents  to  support  you  at  a  crisis  of 
such  difficulty  and  danger,  should  long  ago  have  been 
considered.'' — Let.  15. 

"  My  lord,  you  should  not  encourage  these  appeals  to 
Heaven.  The  pious  prince  from  whom  you  are  supposed 
to  descend  made  such  frequent  use  of  them  in  his  public 
declarations,  that,  at  last,  the  people  also  found  it  neces- 
sary to  appeal  to  Heaven  in  their  turn.  Your  admin- 
istration has  driven  us  into  circumstances  of  equal  dis- 
tress— beware,  at  least,  how  you  remind  us  of  the  reme- 
dy.''—Let.  9. 

Junius  breathed  the  spirit  of  revolution.  This  is  the 
purpose,  and  only  purpose,  of  the  Letters,  namely :  to 
produce  a  revolution  in  England.  And,  if  Thomas 
Paine  was  Junius,  the  idea  never  left  him.  As  this  is 
a  fact  which  extends  through  the  life  of  Mr,  Paine,  I 
shall  offer  some  proof  here,  on  this  point,  as  amidst  the 
multiplicity  of  facts  and  arguments  it  may  hereafter  es- 


66  JUNIUS  UNMASKED, 

cape  me.  It  will  serve,  also,  to  introduce  Mr.  Paine  to 
the  reader. 

An  obscure  English  exciseman  has  now  been  a  little 
more  tlian  two  years  in  America,  and  just  five  years 
since  Junius  wrote  his  last  Letter;  he  has  written  "Com- 
mon Sense  "and  one  "  Crisis;"  he  has  revolutionized  pub- 
lic sentiment  in  America,  the  Declaration  of  Indepen- 
dence has  be'en  sent  abroad  to  the  world,  and  the  war 
well  begun,  when  in  his  second  "Crisis"  he  indites  the 
following  to  Lord  Howe:  "I,  who  know  England  and 
the  disposition  of  the  people  well,  am  confident  that  it 
is  easier  for  us  to  effect  a  revolution  there  than  you  a 
conquest  here.  A  few  thousand  men  landed  in  England 
with  the  declared  design  of  deposing  the  present  king, 
bringing  his  ministers  to  trial,  and  setting  up  the  Duke 
of  Gloucester  in  his  stead,  would  assuredly  carry  their 
point  while  you  were  groveling  here  ignorant  of  the 
matter.  As  I  send  all  my  papers  to  England,  this,  like 
Common  Sense,  will  find  its  way  there;  and,  though  it 
may  put  one  party  on  their  guard,  it  will  inform  the 
other  and  the  nation  in  general  of  our  design  to  help 
them." 

Here  Mr.  Paine  has  announced  the  name  of  the  leader 
whom  Junius  called  for.  But  Paine  projwses  to  do 
Junius  over  again.  Hear  him!  In  the  year  1792  he 
writes:  "During  the  war,  in  the  latter  end  of  the  year 
1780,  I  formed  to  myself  the  design  of  coming  over  to 
England.  .  .  .  I  was  strongly  impressed  with  the  idea 
that  if  I  could  get  over  to  England  without  being 
known,  and  only  ren^ain  in  Kifety  till  I  cinild  get  out  a 
publication,  I  could  open  the  eyes  of  the  country  with 
respect  to  the  madness  antl  stupidity  of  its  government 


REVIEW  OF  JUNIUS.  67 

I  saw  tliat  the  parties  in  parliament  had  pitted  them- 
selves as  far  as  they  could  go,  and  could  make  no  new 
impression  on  each  other.  General  Greene  entered  fully 
into  my  views,  but  the  affair  of  Arnold  and  Andre  hap- 
pening just  after,  he  changed  his  mind,  and,  under 
strong  apprehensions  for  my  safety,  wrote  to  me  very 
pressingly  to  give  up  the  design,  which,  with  some  re- 
luctance, I  did."  He  afterward  renews  the  same  design. 
In  accompanying  Colonel  Laurens  to  France,  certain 
dispatches  from  the  English  government  fell  into  his 
hands  through  the  capture  of  an  English  frigate. 
These  dispatches  Paine  read  at  Paris,  and  bronght  them 
to  America  on  his  return.  He  says:  '^By  these  dis- 
patches I  saw  further  into  the  stupidity  of  the  Eng- 
lish cabinet  than  I  otherwise  could  have  done,  and  I 
renewed  my  former  design.  But  Colonel  Laurens  was 
so  unwilling  to  return  alone,  more  especially  as,  among 
other  matters,  he  had  a  charge  of  upward  of  two  hun- 
dred thousand  pounds  sterling  money,  that  I  gave 
in  to  his  wishes,  and  finally  gave  up  my  plan.  But  I 
am  now  certain  that,  if  I  could  have  executed  it,  it 
would  not  have  been  altogether  unsuccessful.'^ — Note, 
Rights  of  Man,  part  ii.  Nor  is  this  all.  "  When  Na- 
poleon meditated  a  descent  upon  England  by  means  of 
gunboats,  he  secured  the  services  of  Thomas  Paine  to 
establish,  after  the  conquest,  a  more  popular  govern- 
ment.'^ — New  Am.  Cyc,  Art.  Thomas  Paine.  From 
all  that  I  can  gather,  Mr.  Paine  was  himself  the  author 
of  this  "  plan  of  Napoleon's.^' 


COMMON  SENSE. 

Junius  is  heard  no  more  in  England.     The  fame  of 
this  unknown  author  has  gone  round  the  world.     A 
score  of  volumes  have  been  written  to  prove  his  identity 
>vith  a  score/ of  names.     But  all  that  has  been  said  is 
wild  with  conjecture,  and   arguments   have  only  been 
built  upon  *^ rumor y^  and  ^^fads^^  drawn  from  the  im- 
affination.     A   scientific  criticism   has  never  been   at- 
tempted.     Truth  has  been  insulted  by  the  imagination 
in  its  wild  ramblings,  and  writers  have  contented  them- 
selves with   theory  and    fancy,  "to  pile  up   reluctant 
quarto  upon  solid  folio,  as  if  their  labors,  because  they 
are  gigantic,  could  contend  with  truth  and  Heaven." 
But  while  the  king  and  his  cabinet  are  setting  traps, 
and  hunting  up  and  down  the  whole   realm   for  this 
"mighty  boar  of  the  forest,"  in  fear  that  he  will  again 
plunge  at  the  king,  or  tear  the  ermine  of  Lord  Mansfield, 
Thomas  Inline,  just  landed  upon  the  shores  of  America, 
hurls  back  a  shaft  at  royalty  which  tmnsfixes  it  to  the 
wall  of  its  castle.    This  was  Common  Sense,    A  reaction 
had  taken  place  in  England,  and  the  |>eople  of  America 
were  also  aiVecled  tiiereby.     lieeonclliation  was  the  cry, 
independence  scarcely  ]is))ed,  and,  when  lisj^ed,  people 
"startled  at  the  novelty  of  it."     "In  this  state  of  po- 
litical  suspense,"  says   Mr.  Paine,  "the   pamphlet  of 
(68) 


COMMON  SENSE.  69 

Common  Sense  made  its  appearance,  and  the  success  it 
met  with  does  not  become  me  to  mention.  Dr.  Frank- 
lin, Mr.  Samuel,  and  John  Adams  were  severally- 
spoken  of  as  the  supposed  author.  I  had  not,  at  that 
time,  the  pleasure  either  oi  personally  knowing  or  being 
known  to  the  two  last  gentlemen.  The  favor  of  Dr. 
Franklin's  friendship  I  possessed  in  England,  and  my 
introduction  to  this  part  of  the  world  was  through  his 
patronage.  ...  In  October,  1775,  Dr.  Franklin 
proposed  giving  me  such  materials  as  were  in  his  hands 
toward  completing  a  history  of  the  present  transactions, 
and  seemed  desirous  of  having  tlT,e  first  volume  out  the 
next  spring.  I  had  then  formed  the  outlines  of  Com- 
mon Sense  and  finished  nearly  the  .first  part ;  and,  as  I 
supposed  the  doctor's  design  in  getting  out  a  history 
was  to  open  the  new  year  with  a  new  system,  I  expected 
to  surprise,  him  with  a  production  on  that  subject  much 
earlier  than  he  thought  of,  and,  without  informing  him 
what  I  was  doing,  got  it  ready  for  the  press  as  fast  as 
I  conveniently  could,  and  sent  him  the  first  pamphlet 
that  was  printed  off." — Note,  Crisis,  iii. 

Opening  the  new  year  with  a  new  system  is  emphat- 
ically what  Junius  also  did,  and  it  is  most  remarkable 
that  the  appearance  of  Junius'  first  Letter  had,  at  first, 
the  same  effect  in  England  that  Common  Sense  had  in 
America.  Both  came  like  thunderbolts.  "On  January 
10,  1776,  when  ^  a  reconciliation  with  the  mother  country 
was  the  wish  of  almost  every  American,'  a  pamphlet 
called  Common  Sense,  advocating,  the  establishment  of 
a  republic  of  free  and  independent  states,  ^  burst  upon 
the  world' — in  the  language  of  Dr.  Rush — Svith  an 
effect  which  has  rarely  been  produced  by  types  and  pa- 


70  JUNIUS  UNMASKED. 

per  in  any  age  or  country/  It  was  immediately  de- 
nounced as  ^  one  of  the  most  artful,  insidious,  and  per- 
aicious  of  pamphlets ! '  John  Dickinson,  a  staunch  sup- 
porter of  the  American  cause,  and  author  of  the  *  Far- 
mers* Letters,'  opposed  the  idea  of  independence  in  a 
8j)eech  as  a  member  of  the  Continental  Congress.  The 
author  of  *  Plain  Truth,'  one  of  the  many  replies  to 
Common  Sense,  thought  that  ^  volumes  were  insufficient 
to  describe  the  horror,  misery,  and  desolation  awaiting 
the  people  at  large  in  the  siren  form  of  American  inde- 
pendence.' Dr.  ^yilliam  Sriiith,  provost  of  the  Uni- 
versity of  Pennsylvania,  said,  in  his  '  Cato's  Letters/ 
published  in  March,  1776  :  ^  Nor  have  many  weeks  yet 
elapsed  since  the  first  open  proposition  for  independence 
was  published  to  the  world ;  it  certainly  has  no  counte- 
nance from  congress,  and  is  only  the  idol  of  those  who 
wish  to  subvert  all  order  among  us,  and  rise  on  the 
ruins  of  their  country.'" — Art.  Thomas  Paine,  New 
Am.  Cyc. 

This  was  the  first  effort  in  America  toward  revolu- 
tion. It  was  a  bold  hand,  moved  by  a  daring  heart, 
that  wrote  Common  Sense.  In  style  and  language,  in 
argument  and  sentiment,  in  spirit  and  character,  it  is 
the  finest  political  ])roduction  ever  produced  in  the  Eng- 
lish language.  The  object  for  which  Junius  and  Com- 
mon Sense  were  writt<?n  I  have  shown  to  be  the  same, 
namely :  revolution,  and  tlmt  the  base  of  operation  has 
only  been  changed.  It  is  still  an  attack  upon  king, 
lords,  and  commons^  and  a  defense  of  the  people.  I 
now  go  to  show  that  Common  Sense  is  a  concise  repro- 
duction of  Junius,  in  sentiment,  style,  and  method  of 
argvmientation.     But  I  will  first  call  to  the  reader's 


COMMON  SENSE.  71 

mind  a  sentence  from  Junius  in  answer  to  the  assertion 
of  Dr.  Smith  just  quoted,  that  Common  Sense  was  ^^the 
first  open  proposition  for  independence."  On  the  con- 
trary, the  first  open  statement  of  Junius  in  regard  to 
the  colonies,  addressed  to  the  king  six  years  before  this, 
is  as  follows :  ^^Loohing  jorward  to  independence,  they 
might  possibly  receive  you  for  their  king ;  but,  if  you 
ever  retire  to  America,  be  assured  they  will  give  you 
such  a  covenant  to  digest  as  the  presbytery  of  Scotland 
would  have  been  ashamed  to  oifer  to  Charles  the  Second. 
They  left  their  native  land  in  search  of  freedom,  and 
found  it  in  a  desert.  Divided  as  they  are  into  a  thou- 
sand forms  of  policy  and  religion,  there  is  one  point  in 
which  they  all  agree — they  equally  detest  the  pageantry 
of  a  king,  and  the  supercilious  hypocrisy  of  a  bishop." 

I  have  now  only  to  remark :  when  Thomas  Paine 
came  to  America,  at  least  when  he  wrote  Common 
Sense,  he  understood  the  American  people  and  what 
they  wanted  better  than  they  did  themselves  ;  and  so 
did  Junius. 

I  now  bring  Common  Sense  and  Junius  together  to 
show  parallels  of  idea,  method,  and  style. 

Common  Sense  was  ad-  Junius  was  dedicated  to 

dressed  to  the  inhabitants  the    English  nation ;    por- 

of  America,  the  Introduc-  tions  of  the  Dedication  are 

tion  of  which  is  as  follows:  as~ follows: 

"  Perhaps  the  sentiments  '^  I  dedicate  to  you  a  col- 
contained  in  the  following  lection  of  letters  written  hy 
pages  are  not  yet  sufficient-  one  of  yourselves,  for  the 
ly  fashionable  to  procure  common  benefit  of  us  all. 
them  general  favor;  a  long  They  would  never  have 
habit  of  not  thinking  a  grown  to  this  size  without 
thing  wrong,  gives  it  a  su-  your  continued  encourage- 


72  JUNIUS  UNMASKED. 

|>erficial  appearance  of  be-  ment  and  applause.  To 
ing  riglit,  and  raises,  at  me  they  originally  owe 
first,  a  formidable  outcry  nothing  but  a  healthy,  san- 
in  defense  of  custom.  But  guine  constitution.  Under 
the  tumult  soon  subsides,  your  care  they  have  thriven; 
Time  makes  more  converts  to  you  they  are  indebted  for 
than  Reason.  whatever  strength  or  beau- 

**A  long  and  violent  ty  they  possess, 
abuse  of  power  is  general-  "  When  kings  and  min- 
ly  the  means  of  calling  tlie  isters  are  forgotten,  when 
right  of  it  in  question  (and  the  force  and  direction  of 
in  matters,  too,  which  personal  satire  is  no  longer 
might  never  have  been  understood, and  when  meas- 
tiiought  of  had  not  tiie  suf-  ures  are  only  felt  in  their 
ferers  been  aggravated  into  remotest  consequences,  this 
the  inquiry),  and  as  the  book  will,  I  believe,  be 
king  of  Enghmd  hath  un-  found  to  contain  principles 
dertaken,  in  liis  own  right,  worthy  to  be  transmitted 
to  su])port  the  parliament  to  posterity.  AVhen  you 
in  wiiat  he  calls  f/ie//vv,  and  leave  the  unimpaired,  he- 
as  the  good  ])eoplo  of  this  reditary  freehold  to  your 
country  are  grievously  op-  children,  you  do  but  half 
pressed  by  the  combination,  your  duty.  Both  liberty 
they  have  an  undoubted  and  property  are  precarious, 
privih^ge  to  incpiire  into  the  unless  the  possessors  have 
pretensions  of  both,  and  sense  and  spirit  enough  to 
ecpially  to  reject  the  usurpa-  defend  them, 
tions  of  either.  *'  Be  assured  that  the  laws 

"  In  the  following  sheets  which  protect  us  in  our 
the  author  hath  studiously  civil  rights,  grow  out  of 
avoided  every  thing  whicli  the  constitution,  and  they 
is  personal  among  ourselves,  must  fall  or  flourish  witii 
Compliments  as  well  as  it.  This  is  not  the  cause 
censure  to  individuals  make  of  faction  or  of  party,  or  of 
no  part  thereof.  The  wise  any  individual,  but  the 
and  the  worthy  need  not  common  interest  of  every 
the  triumph  of  a  pamj)hlet;  man  in  Britain.  Although 
and  those  whose  sentiments  the    king  should  continue 


COMMON  SENSE. 


73 


are  injudicious  or  unfriend- 
ly will  cease  of  themselves, 
unless  too  much  pains  is 
bestowed  upon  their  con- 
version. 

*'The  cause  of  America 
is,  in  a  great  measure,  the 
cause  of  all  mankind. 
Many  circumstances  have 
and  will  arise,  which  are 
not  local,  but  universal, 
and  through  which  the 
principles  of  all  lovers  of 
mankind  are  affected,  and 
in  the  event  of  which,  their 
affections  are  interested. 
The  laying  a  country  deso- 
late with  fire  and  sword, 
declaring  war  against  the 
natural  rights  of  mankind, 
and  extirpating  the  defend- 
ers tliereof  from  the  face  of 
the  earth,  is  the  concern  of 
every  man  to  whom  nature 
hath  given  the  ])ower  of 
feeling;  of  which  class,  re- 
gardless of  party  censure, 
is  The  Author.'^ 


to  support  his  present  sys- 
tem of  government,  the  pe- 
riod is  not  very  distant  at 
which  you  will  have  the 
means  of  redress  in  your 
own  power;  it  may  be 
nearer,  perhaps,  than  any 
of  us  expect;  and  I  would 
warn    you  to    be   prepared 

for  it 

''You  can  not  but  con- 
clude, without  the  possibil- 
ity of  a  doubt,  that  long 
parliaments  are  the  founda- 
tion of  the  undue  influence 
of  the  crown.  This  influ- 
ence answers  every  pur- 
pose of  arbitrary  power  to 
the  crown.  .  .  It  promises 
every  gratification  to  ava- 
rice and  ambition,  and  se- 
cures impunity.  .  .  You 
are  roused  at  last  to  a  sense 
of  your  danger;  the  remedy 
will  soon  be  in  your  })ow- 
er.  If  Junius  lives  you 
shall  often  be  reminded  of 
it.  If,  when  the  opportu- 
nity presents  itself,  you 
neglect  to  do  your  duty  to 
yourselves  and  to  posterity, 
to  God  and  to  your  coun- 
try, I  shall  have  one  con- 
solation left  in  common 
with  the  meanest  and 
basest  of  mankind:  civil 
liberty  may  ^till  last  tlie 
life  of  Junius." 


74  JUNIUS  UNMASKED. 

I  would  call  the  attention  of  the  reader  to  the  man- 
ner in  which  they  close :  to  the  cause  of  which  they 
Hpeak  :  to  the  object  of  their  labors :  to  the  fact  that 
they  stand  above  party  or  faction  :  to  the  expression  of 
Junius,  "  written  by  one  of  yourselves: "  to  the  declar- 
ation that  if  he  lives  he  will  often  remind  the  English 
people  of  the  danger  they  are  in  and  of  the  remedy ;  to 
the  fact  that  Mr.  Paine  here  does  it,  and  continues  to 
do  it  ever  after  while  he  lives:  in  short,  I  would  call 
the  attention  of  the  reader  to  the  perfect  similarity  in 
style,  object,  and  sentiment,  save  in  this — the  one  was 
the  requiem  of  Freedom  in  England,  the  other,  her 
natal  song  in  America. 

As  I  have  called  attention  to  the  style,  I  would 
caution  the  reader  not  to  be  betrayed  by  the  word 
",  hath  "  of  Mr.  Paine.  It  by  no  means  affects  the 
style.  It  was  doubtless  used  or  not  u<ed  at  first  as  a 
blind  by  Mr.  Paine;  for  he  sometimes  used  it  and 
sometimes  did  not.  A  few  years  later  in  life  it  is  aban- 
doned altogether,  and  Junius  occasionally  lets  it  slip. 
See  Let.  37.  And  also  the  word  ''  doth."— Note,  Let.  41. 

The  following  gives  a  distinction  between  society  and 
government,  the  failure  of  human  conscience,  and  the 
necessary  surrender  of  human  liberty  : 

Common  Sense,  Junius, 

Society  in  every  state  is  "It  is  not  in  the  nature  of 
a  blessing,  but  government  human  sixMcty  that  any 
even  in  its  best  state  is  but  form  of  government  in 
a  necessary  (?vil.  In  its  such  circumstances  can  long 
worst  stjvte,  an  intolend)lc  be  ])reserved. — Ijct.  35. 
one;  for  when  we  suffer  or  "The  multitude  in  all 
are  exposed  *to  the  same  countries  are  ]>atient  to  a 
miseries  by  a  government  cerUun   point.      Ill    usage 


COMMON  SES8E,  75 

which  we  might  expect  in  may  rouse  their  indignation 
a  country  without  gov-  and  hnrry  them  into  exces- 
ernment,  our  calamity  is  ses,  but  the  original  fanlt 
heightened  by  reflecting,  is  in  government, 
that  we  furnish  the  meaus  "  The  I'uin  or  prosperity 
by  which  we  suffer.  Gov-  of  a  state  depends  so  much 
ernment,  like  dress,  is  the  upon  the  administration  of 
badge  of  lost  innocence,  its  government,  that  to 
The  palaces  of  kings  are  be  acquainted  with  the 
built  upon  the  ruins  of  the  merit  of  a  ministry,  we 
bowers  of  paradise,  for  were  need  only  observe  the 
the  impulses  of  conscience  condition  of  the  people.'' 
clear,  uniform,  and  irresist-  Let.  1. 
ibly  obeyed,  man  would  need  "  If  conscience  plays  the 
no  other  law-giver;  but  tyrant  it  would  be  greatly 
that  not  being  the  case,  he  for  the  benefit  of  the 
finds  it  necessary  to  surren-  world  that  she  were  more 
der  up  a  part  of  his  prop-  arbitrary  and  far  less  pla- 
erty  to  furnish  means  for  cable  than  some  men  find 
the  protection  of  the  rest ;  her.'' — Let.  27. 
and  this  he  is  induced  to  "  I  lament  the  unhappy 
do  by  the  same  prudence  necessity  whenever  it  arises 
which  in  every  other  case  of  providing  for  the  safety 
advises  him  out  of  two  of  the  state  by  a  temporary 
evils  to  choose  the  least.'       invasion    of    the    personal 

liberty  of  the  subject."-Let. 
58. 

Junius  feels  and  ac- 
knowledges the  evil  in. the 
most  express  terms,  and 
will  show  himself  ready  to 
concur  in  any  rational  plan 
that  maj'  provide  for  the 
liberty  of  the  individual 
without  hazarding  the 
safety  of  the  community." 
Let.  63. 


76  JUNIUS  UNMASKED. 

Mr.  Paine  now  proceeds  to  form  a  govcrnmenf  upon 
an  ideal  })lan,  and  show  the  origin  of  those  first  princi- 
)les  which  would  operate  in  the  first  peopling  of  a  coun- 
try. "  But  as  nothing  but  heaven  is  impregnable  to 
vice,"  the  natural  restraints  of  society  will  not  be  suffi- 
cient to  check  it ;  this  will  necessitate  the  establishment 
of  a  government.  At  first,  the  whole  colony  may  delib- 
erate, and  in  the  first  parliament  every  man  will  have  a 
seat.  But  as  the  colony  increases  this  can  not  be  done, 
because  inconvenience  prohibits  it.     He  now  observes: 

'^  This  will  point  out  the  Junius, 
convenience  ©f  their  con- 
senting to  leave  the  legis-  "The  House  of  Commons 
lative  ])art  to  be  uianaged  are  only  interpreters  wlu^e 
by  a  select  number  chosen  duty  it  is  to  convey  the 
from  the  whole  body,  who  sense  of  the  people  faithful- 
are  su|)posed  to  have  the  ly  to  the  crown ;  if  the  in- 
same  interests  at  stake  terpretution  be  false  or  im- 
which  those  have  who  ap-  perfect,  the  constituent 
pointed  them,  and  who  will  powers  are  ejilled  to  deliv- 
a<?t  in  tlu^  same  manner  as  er  their  own  sentiments, 
the  whole  body  would  were  Their  speech  is  rude  but 
they  present.  Ifthecolo-  intelligible;  their  gestures 
ny  continue  increasiilg,  it  fierce  but  full  of  expla- 
will  become  necessary  to  nation.  Perj)lexed  with 
augment  the  number  of  sophistries,  tiieir  honest 
representatives;  and  that  ehnpience  rises  into  ac- 
the  interest  of  every  part  tion." — Let.  38. 
of  the  colony  nniy  be  at-  "  T  am  convinced  that  if 
tended  to,  it  will  be  found  shortening  the  duration  of 
best  to  divide  the  whole  ])arliaments  (which,  in  ef- 
into  convenient  parts,  each  feet,  is  keeping  the  repre- 
]>art  sending  its  pro}>er  sentativc  under  the  tckI  of 
nund)er;  and  that  the  the  constituent)  be  not 
elected   might   never   form  made     the     basis    of    our 


COMMON  SENSE, 


77 


to  themselves  an  interest 
separate  from  the  electors, 
prudence  will  point  out  the 
propriety  of  having  elec- 
tions often ;  because,  as  the 
elected  might  by  that  means 
return  and  mix  again  with 
the  general  body  of  the 
electors,  in  a  few  months 
their  fidelity  to  the  public 
will  be  secured  by  the  pru- 
dent reflection  of  making  a 
rod  for  themselves.  And 
as  this  fi-equent  interchange 
will  establish  a  common 
interest  with  every  part  of 
the  community,  they  will 
mutually  and  naturally 
support  each  other,  and  on 
this  (not  on  the  unmeaning 
name  of  king)  depends  the 
strength  of  government  and 
the  happiness  of  the  gov- 
erned. 

"  Here,  then,  is  the  ori- 
gin and  rise  of  govern- 
ment ;  viz,  a  mode  rendered 
necessary  by  the  inability 
of  moral  virtue  to  govern 
the  world  ;  here,  too,  is  the 
design  and  end  of  govern- 
ment, viz  :  freedom  and  se- 
curity. And  however  our 
eyes  may  be  dazzled  with 
show,  or  our  ears  deceived 
by  sound;  however  preju- 
dice may  warp  our  wills, 
or  interest  darken  our  un- 


new  parliamentary  juris- 
prudence, other  checks  or 
improvements  signify  noth- 
ing. On  the  contrary,  if 
this  be  made  the  founda- 
tion, other  measures  may 
come  in  aid,  and,  as  auxil- 
iaries, be  of  considerable 
advantage.  If  we  are  sin- 
cere in  the  political  creed 
we  profess,  there  are  many 
things  can  not  be  done  by 
king,  lords  and  commons." 
Let.  68. 

"  The  free  election  of  our 
representatives  in  parlia- 
ment comprehends,  because 
it  is  the  source  and  securi- 
ty of  every  right  and  priv- 
ilege of  the  English  nation. 
The  ministry  have  realized 
the  compendious  ideas  of 
Caligula.  They  know  that 
the  liberty,  the  laws,  and 
property  of  an  English- 
man, have  in  truth  but  one 
neck,  and  that  to  violate 
the  freedom  of  election 
strikes  deeply  at  them  all." 
Let.  39. 

"  Does  the  law  of  parlia- 
ment, which  we  are  often 
told  is  the  law  of  the  land  ; 
does  the  right  of  every 
subject  of  the  realm,  depend 
upon  an  arbitrary,  capri- 
cious vote  of  one  branch  of 
the  legislature?    The  voice 


78  JUNIUS  UNMASKED. 

derstaiiding,     the     simple  of  truth   and   reason   must 
voice  of  nature  and  reason   be  silent." — Let.  20. 
will  say,  it  is  right.'' 

In  the  above  the  sentiment  is  not  only  the  same,  but 
the  same  metaphors  are  used.  As  a  "  rod "  for  the 
representiitive,  and  the  "  voice  of  reason." 

In  the  following  the  same  metaphor  also  is  used,  but 
with  a  change  in  the  application. 

Common  Sense.  Junius. 

"  But  the  constitution  of  "  After  a  rapid  succession 
England  is  so  exceedingly  of  changes,  we  are  reduced 
complex,  that  the  nation  to  that  state  which  hardly 
may  suifer  for  years  to-  any  change  can  mend.  It 
gethcr  without  being  able  is  not  the  disorder,  but  the 
to  discover  in  which  part  physician:  it  is  not  a  cjisual 
the  fault  lies ;  some  will  concurrence  of  calamitous 
say  in  one,  some  in  another,  circumstances  ;  it  is  the 
and  every  political  physi-  pernicious  hatid  of  govcrn- 
cian  will  advise  a  different  ment  which  alone  can  make 
medicine."  a  whole  peoj)le  des|>erate." 

Let.  1. 

In  the  above,  Junius  is  speaking,  in  his  first  I^otter, 
witli  all  the  prejudices  of  an  Englishman  in  favor  of 
the  constitution.  But  this  soon  wears  off,  and  in  his 
closing  Letter  he  si>eaks  as  boldly  as  Common  Sense. 

Common  Sense.  Junius. 

"  I  know  it  is  difficult  to  "I  confess,  sir,  that  I  felt 
get  over  local  or  long  the  prejudices  of  my  educa- 
standing  prejudices,  yet  if  tion  in  favor  of  a  House 
we  will  suffer  ourselves  of  Commons  still  hanging 
to  examine  the  component  alxiut  me.  .  .  .  The 
parts  of  the  English  con-  state  of  things  is  much 
stitution,  we  will  find  them  altered  in  this  country  since 


COMMON  SENSE.  79 

to  be  the  base  remains  of  it  was  necessary  to  protect 
two  ancient  tyrannies^  com-  our  re})resentatives  against 
pounded  with  some  new  the  direct  powerof  the  crown, 
republican  materials.  We  have  nothing  to  appre- 

F'wst:  The  remains  of  hend  from  prerogative,  but 
monarchical  tyranny  in  the  every  thing  from  undue  in- 
person  of  the  king.  fluence.^' — Let.  44. 

Secondly:  The  remains  See  how  Junius  now 
of  aristocratical  tyranny  in  bows  to  monarchy  in  order 
the  persons  of  the  peers.       to  strike  it :  '*  I  can  more 

Thirdly :  The  new  repub-  readily  admire  the  liberal 
lican  materials  in  the  per-  spirit  and  integrity,  than 
sons  of  the  commons,  on  the  sound  judgment  of  any 
whose  virtue  depends  the  man  who  prefers  a  republi- 
freedom  of  England.  can  form  of  government  in 

this   or    any    other  empire 

^'  The  nearer  any  govern-  of  equal  extent,  to  a  mon- 
ment  approaches  to  a  repub-  archy  so  qualified  and 
lie,  the  less  business  there  is  limited  as  ours.  I  am 
for  a  king.  It  is  somewhat  convinced  that  neither  is  it 
difficult  to  find  a  proper  in  theory  the  wisest  system 
name  for  the  government  of  government,  nor  practi- 
of  England.  Sir  William  cable  in  this  country.  Yet, 
Meredith  calls  it  a  repub-  though  I  hope  the  English 
lie,  but  in  its  present  state  constitution  will  forever 
it  is  unworthy  of  the  name,  preserve  its  original  raon- 
because  the  corrupt  influ-  archical  form,  I  would  have 
ence  of  the  crown  by  having  the  manners  of  the  people 
all  the  places  at  its  disposal,  purely  and  strictly  repub- 
hath  so  effectually  swal-  lican.  I  do  not  mean  the 
lowed  up  the  power,  and  licentious  spirit  of  anarchy 
eaten  out  the  virtue  of  the  and  riot ;  I  mean  a  general 
House  of  Commons  (the  attachment  to  the  common 
republican  part  in  the  con-  weal,  distinct  from  any 
stitution),  that  the  govern-  partial  attachment  to  per- 
ment  of  England  is  nearly  sons  or  families ;  an  im- 
as  monarchical  as  that  of  plicit  submission  to  the 
France  or  Spain.    Men  fall  laws  only  ;  and  an  affection 


80  JUNIUS  UNMASKED, 

out  with  names  witliout  iin-  to  the  magistrate  pro|)dr- 
(lerstaiHlin(^  them.  For  it  is  tioned  to  the  integrity  and 
the  republican  and  not  the  wisdom  with  which  he 
monarchical  part  of  the  distributes  justice  to  the 
constitution  of  England,  people,  and  administers 
which  Englishmen  glory  their  affairs.  The  present 
in,  viz:  thelibcrty  of  choos-  habit  of  our  political  body 
ing  a  House  of  Commons  appears  to  me  the  very 
from  out  their  own  body;  reverse  of  what  it  ought  to 
and  it  is  easy  to  see,  that  be.  The  form  of  the  con- 
when  republican  virtue  stitution  leans  rather  more 
fails,  slavery  ensues.  Why  than  enough  to  the  popular 
is  the  constitution  of  Eng-  branch  ;  w^iiile  in  effect  the 
land  sickly,  but  because  manners  of  the  people  (of 
monarchy  hath  poisoned  the  those  at  least  wlio  are 
republic,  the  crown  hath  likely  to  take  the  lead  in 
engrossed  the  commons."      the    country)    incline,    too 

generally  to  a  dependence 
upon  the  crown.  The  real 
friends  of  arbitrary  power  combine  the  facts,  and  are 
not  inconsistent  with  their  principles,  when  they  stren- 
uously supj)ort  the  unwarrantable  ]>rivileges  assumed 
by  the  House  of  Commons.  In  these  circumstances  it 
were  much  to  be  desired  that  we  had  many  such  men 
as  Mr.  Sawbridge  to  represent  us  in  parliament.  I 
speak  frqm  common  report  and  opinion  only,  when  I 
impute  to  him  a  speculative  predilection  in  favor  of  a 
republic.  In  the  ])ers()nal  conduct  and  manners  of 
the  man  I  can  not  be  mistaken.  He  has  shown  himself 
possessed  of  that  republican  firmness  which  the  times 
require,  and  by  which  an  English  genthMuan  may  be 
as  usefully  and  as  honorably  distinguished  as  any  citi- 
zen of  ancient  Rome,  of  Athens,  or  Lncedemon." 
Let.  58. 


I  would  remark  on  the  above  passage  from  Junius, 
that  this  is  one  of  his  finest  rhetorical  efforts,  and  it  is 


COMMON  SENSE.  81 

well  worthy  of  a  moment's  pause,  to  study  its  plan  and 
probable  effect  on  the  English  mind.  This  was  written 
near  the  close  of  his  literary  campaign.  The  reaction 
had  set  in,  and  he  was  stemming  the  tide  of  public 
opinion.  He  wishes  to  bring  the  people  up  to  his  re- 
publican notions,  and  to  rouse  them  to  action.  He  be- 
gins by  admh'ing  the  liberal  spirit  and  integrity  of  the 
man,  but  reflects  on  his  judgment  who  prefers  a  repub- 
lic to  a  monarchy  so  qualified  and  limited  in  a  country 
of  that  size.  He  limits  monarchy  to  a  small  country. 
The  reader  will  mark  how  guarded  he  is  here.  He  is 
fully  aware  of  the  prejudices  of  the  people  ip  favor  of 
monarchy,  and  doubtless  he  spoke  his  own  sentiments 
at  the  time,  qualified  as  they  were.  Mr.  Paine  after- 
ward spoke  of  ^'  setting  up  the  Duke  of  Gloucester,  de- 
posing the  king,  and  bringing  the  ministers  to  trial." 
Junius  has  now  prepared  the  public  ear  for  an  attentive 
and  respectful  hearing;  he  has  bowed  to  monarchy,  and 
touched  the  heart  of  his  audience.  He  now  Introduces 
the  principles  of  a  republic,  which  produce  a  spirit  de- 
void of  anarchy  and  riot,  but  one  attached  to  the  com- 
mon weal  and  submissive  to  the  laws  only.  He  now 
tenderly  chides  the  people  for  their  dependence  upon 
the  crown,  especially  the  leaders.  He  then  advances  to 
a  charge  of  inconsistency,  and  shows  the  advantage  the 
friends  of  arbitrary  power  take  of  It.  .  He  now  supports 
himself  by  authority  in  a  eulogy  on  Mr.  Sawbridge,  of 
whom  he  says:  ''He  has  shown  himself  possessed  of 
that  republican  firmness  which  the  times  require.''  He 
at  last  caps  the  climax  with  an  array  of  republics,  and 
a  hint  that  an  English  gentleman  would  be ''  honorably 
distinguished"   If  he  would    come  forward   and    play 


82  JUNIUS  UNMASKED. 

the  part  of  Brutus.  The  whole  paragraph  is  deeply 
planned  and  finely  wrought  out,  and  would  fall  with 
stunning  weight  upon  the  mind  of  the  'English  nation. 

But  let  us  proceed.  Mr.  Paine  asked,  in  the  last 
sentence  quoted  above  in  the  parallel  column :  "  Why 
is  the  constitution  of  England  sickly  ?"  etc.  He  also 
further  says:  "An  inquiry  into  the  constitutional  errors 
in  the  English  form  of  government  is  at  this  time 
highly  necessary,  for,  as  we  are  never  in  a  proper  con- 
dition of  doing  justice  to  others  while  we  continue  un- 
der the  influence  of  some  leading  partiality,  so  neither 
are  we  capable  of  doing  it  to  ourselves  while  we  remain 
fettered  by  an  obstinate  prejudice.  And  as  a  man  who 
is  attached  to  a  prostitute  is  unfit  to  choose  or  judge  of 
a  wife,  so  any  prepossession  in  favor  of  a  rotten  consti- 
tution of  government  will  disable  us  from  discerning  a 
good  one.'' — Common  Sense,  Part  I. 

Englishmen  considered  rotten  boroughs  the  only  rot- 
ten part  of  the  constitution,  but  Common  Sense  and 
Junius  both  considered  that  the  disease  had  extended 
from  the  extremities  to  the  heart.     Junius  says: 

"As  to  cutting  away  the  rotten  boroughs,  I  am  as 
much  oflentled  as  any  man  at  seeing  so  many  of  them 
under  the  direct  influence  of  the  crown,  or  at  the  dis- 
posal of  ]>rivat(»  ]>ersons.  Yet,  I  own  I  have  both 
doubts  and  :ij)pr(']iensions  in  regard  to  the  remeily  you 
propose.  .  .  .  When  ^all  your  instruments  of  am- 
])utati()n  {wv  prepared,  when  the  unhappy  patient  lies 
bound  at  your  feet,  without  the  possibility  of  resistance, 
by  what  infallible  rule  will  you  direct  the  operation? 
When  you  ])ropose  to  cut  away  the  rotten  parts,  can 
you  tell  us  what  parts  arc  perfect  It/  somid?     Are  there 


COMMON  iSENSE.  83 

any  certain  limits,  in  fact  or  theory,  to  inform  you  at 
what  point  yon  must  stop — at  what  point  the  mortifica- 
tion ends?  To  a  man  [Mr.  Wilkes]  so  capable  of  ob- 
servation and  reflection  as  you  are,  it  is  unnecessary  to 
say  all  that  might  be  said  upon  the  subject.  Besides 
that,  I  approve  highly  of  Lord  Chatham's  idea  of  in- 
fusing a  portion  of  new  health  into  the  constitution,  to 
enable  it  to  bear  its  infirmities — a  brilliant  expression, 
and  full  of  intrinsic  wisdom.^' — Last  Letter  of  Junius. 

Common  Sense.  Junius. 

"  To  say  that  the  constitu-  ^^  The  three  branches,  of 
tion  of  England  is  a  union  the  legislature  seem  to  treat 
of  three  powers,  recipro-  their  separate  rights  and  in- 
cally  checking  each  other,  terests  as  the  Roman  trium- 
is  farcical ;  either  the  words  virs  did  their  friends — they 
have  no  meaning,  or  they  reciprocally  sacrifice  them- 
are  flat  contradictions.  To  to  the  animosities  of  each 
say  that  the  commons  is  a  other,  and  establish  a  de- 
check  upon  the  king  pre-  testable  union  among  them- 
supposes  two  things :  selves  upon  the  ruin  of  the 

First. — That  the  king  is  laws  and  the  liberty  of  the 
not  to  be  trusted  without  commonwealth.'^ — Let.  39. 
being  looked  after;  or,  in  In  speaking  of  and  to  the 
other  words,  that  a  thirst  king,  he  says : 
for  absolute  power  is  the  ^'  It  has  been  the  misfor- 
natural  disease  of  mon-  tune  of  your  life,  and  orig- 
archy.  inally  the  cause  of  every 

Secondly. — That  the  com-  reproach  and  distress  which 
mons,  by  being  appointed  has  attended  your  govern- 
for  that  purpose,  are  either  ment,  that  you  should  never 
wiser,  or  more  worthy  of  have  been  acquainted  with 
confidence  than  the  crown,  the  language  of  truth  until 

There  is  something  ex-  you  heard   it  in   the  com- 
ceedingly  ridiculous  in  the  plaints  of  your  people.'' — 
composition  of  monarchy —  Let.  35. 
6 


84  JUNIUS  UNMASKED, 

it  first  excludes  a  man  from  "A      faultless,      insipid 

the  means  of  information,  equality  in  his  character  is 

yet  empowers  him  to  act  in  neither  capable  of  virtue  or 

cases    where    the     highest  vice  in  the  extreme,  but  it 

judgment  is  required.    The  secures   his   submission    to 

state  of  a  king  shuts  him  those  j)ersons  whom  he  has 

from    the    world,   yet    the  been  accustomed  to  respect, 

business  of  a  king  requires  and  makes  him  a  dangerous 

him  to  know  it  thorough-  instrument  of  their  ambi- 

ly;  wherefore,  the  different  tion.     Secluded    from    the 

parts,   by   unnaturally   op-  world,  attached  from  his  in- 

])Osing  and  destroying  each  fancy  to  one  set  of  persons 

other,  prove  the  wliolechar-  and  one  set  of  ideas,  he  can 

act<?r  to  be  absurd  and  use-  neither  open   his  heart   to 

less.  new   connections,    nor    his 

That  the  crown  is  this  mind  to  better  informa- 
overbearing  part  in  the  tion." — Let.  39. 
English  constitution,  needs  Of  the  king's  influence 
not  to  be  mentioned;  and  on  parliament,  he  says: 
that  it  derives  its  whole  ^'  It  is  arbitrary  and  no- 
consequence  merely  from  toriously  under  the  influ- 
being  the  giver  of  places  ence  of  the  crown," — Let. 
and  pensions,  is  self-evident.  44. 

Wherefore,  though  we  have  "I  beg  you  will  convey 

been   wise  enougli  to  shut  to  your  gracious  master  my 

and  lock  a  door  against  ab-  humble  congratulations  up- 

solute  monarchy,  we  at  the  on  the  glorious  success  of 

same  time  have  been  foolish  peerages  and  pensions^  so 

enough   to  ])ut  the   crown  lavishly  distributed  as  the 

in  possession  of  the  key.  rewards  of  L'ish  virtue." — 

The    ])reju(li('e    of  Kng-  Let.  (JG. 

lishmen   in   favor  of  their  "That  tlie  sovereign  of 

own  government  by  king,  this  country  is  not  anien- 

lords,  and  commons,  arises  able  to  any  form  of  trial 

as  much  or  more  from  na-  known  to  the  laws,  is  un- 

tional    ]>ri(le    than    reason,  questionable;    but   exem|)- 

Lidividuals    are    undoubt-  tion  from  punishment  is  a 

edly  safer  in  England  than  singular  privilege  annexed 


COMMON  SENSE.  85 

in  some  other  coiin tries,  but  to  the  royal  character,  and 
the  will  of  the  king  is  as  no  way  excludes  the  possi- 
much  the  law  of  the  land  bility  of  deserving  it.  How 
in  Britain  as  in  France,  long  and  to  what  extent  a 
with  this  difference:  that,  king  of  England  may  be 
instead  of  proceeding  di-  protected  by  the  forms, 
rectly  from  his  mouth,  it  is  when  he  violates  the  spirit 
handed  to  tlie  people  under  of  the  constitution,  deserves 
the  formidable  shape  of  an  to  be  considered.  A  mis- 
act  of  parliament.  For  the  take  in  this  matter  proved 
fate  of  Charles  the  First  fatal  to  Charles  and  his 
hath  only  made  kings  more  son.^^ — Preface  to  Junius, 
subtle — not  more  just.  "The  consequences  of  this 

Wherefore,  laying  aside  attack  upon  the  constitution 
all  national  pride  and  preju-  are  too  plain  and  palpable 
dice  in  favor  of  modes  and  not  to  alarm  the  dullest  ap^ 
forms,  the  plain  truth  is  prehension.  I  trust  you 
that  it  is  wholly  owing  to  the  will  find  that  the  people  of 
constitution  of  the  people,  and  England  are  neither  defi- 
not  the  constitution  of  the  gov-  cient  in  spirit  or  under- 
ernment,  that  the  crown  is  standing,  though  you  have 
not  as  oppressive  in  Eng-  treated  them  as  if  they  had 
land  as  in  Turkey."  neither  sense    to    feel,   nor 

spirit  to  resent.  We  have 
reason  to  thank  God  and 
our  ancestors  that  there  never  yet  was  a  minister  in  this 
country  who  could  stand  the  issue  of  such  a  conflict, 
and,  with  every  prejudice  in  favor  of  your  intentions, 
I  see  no  such  abilities  in  your  grace  as  should  enable 
you  to  succeed  in  an  enterprise  in  which  the  ablest  and 
basest  of  your  predecessors  have  found  their  destruc- 
tion. .  .  .  Never  hope  that  the  freeholders  will 
make  a  tame  surrender  of  their  rights,  or  that  an  Eng- 
lish army  will  join  with  you  in  overturning  the  liber- 
ties of  their  country." — Let.  11. 

I  will  now  present  their  doctrine  of  equal  rights: 


86  JUNIUS  UNMASKED. 

Common  Sense.  Junius. 

"  Mankind  being  original-      "  In  the  rights  of  freedom 

\y  equals  in   the  order  of   we  are  all  equal 

creation,  the  equality  could  The  least  considerable  man 
not  be  destroyed  by  some  among  us  has  an  interest 
subsequent  circumstance.       equal  to  the  proudest  noble- 

man."— Let.  37. 

"As  the  exalting  one  man  '^  When  the  first  original 
so  greatly  above  the  rest,  right  of  the  people,  from 
can  not  be  justified  on  the  which  all  laws  derive  their 
equal  rights  of  nature.    .    .  authority,'^  etc. — Let.  30. 

**  For  all  men  being  orig-  "  Those  sacred  original 
inally  equals,  no  one  by  rights  which  belonged  to 
birth  could  have  a  right  to  them  before  they  were  sol- 
set  up  his  own  family  in  diers." — Let.  11. 
perpetual  preference  to  all  *^  Those  original  rights  of 
others  forever,  and  though  your  subjects,  on  which  all 
himself  might  deserve  some  their  civil  and  political  lib- 
decent  degree  of  honors  of   erties  depend 

his  cotemporaries,  yet  his  "  If  the  English  jieople 
descendants  might  be  far  should  no  longer  confine 
too  unworthy  to  inherit  their  resentment  to  a  sub- 
them.  One  of  the  strong-  missive  representation  of 
est  natural  proofs  of  the  their  wrongs ;  if,  following 
folly  of  hereditary  right  in  the  glorious  examj)le  of 
kings,  is,  that  nature  dis-  their  ancestors,  they  should 
proves  it,  otherwise  she  no  longer  appeal  to  the 
would  not  so  frequently  creature  of  the  constitution, 
turn  it  into  ridicule  by  giv-  but  to  that  high  Being  who 
ing  mankind  an  ass  for  a  gave  them  the  rights  of 
lion."  humanity,    whose   git>s   it 

were  sacrilege  to  surrender ; 
let  me  ask  you,  sir,  ujKm 
what  part  of  vour  subjects 
would  you  rely  tor  assist- 
ance?"— Address  to  the 
king,  Let.  35. 


COMMON  SENSE.  87 

While  I  am  upon  the  subject  of  king,  I  will  present 
their  views  in  this  place.  And  I  would  call  attention 
to  the  severity  of  the  language : 

Common  Sense.  Junius. 

^^  In  England,  a  king  hath  ^^  For  my  own  part,  far 
little  more  to  do  than  to  from  thinking  that  the 
make  war  and  give  away  king  can  do  no  Avrong ;  far 
places,  which,  in  plain  from  suffering  myself  to 
terms,  is  to  impoverish  the  be  deterred  or  imposed  up- 
nation  and  set  it  together  on  by  the  language  of 
by  the  ears.  A  pretty  forms;  if  it  were  my  mis- 
business,  indeed,  for  a  man  fortune  to  live  under  the 
to  be  allowed  eight  hun-  inauspicious  reign  of  a 
dred  thousand  sterling  a  prince,  whose  whole  life 
year  for,  and  worshiped  was  employed  in  one  base, 
into  the  bargain !  Of  more  contemptible  struggle  with 
worth  is  one  honest  man  to  the  free  spirit  of  his  peo- 
society  and  in  tlie  sight  of  pie,  or  in  the  detestable 
God  than  all  the  crowned  endeavor  to  corrupt  their 
ruffians  that  ever  lived.  moral  principles,   I  would 

"  But  where,  say  some,  is  not   scruple   to   declare   to 

the  king  of  America?     Pll  him:  ^Sir,  you   alone   are 

tell   you,  friend,  he   reigns  the   author  of  the  greatest 

above,  and  doth  not  make  wrong  to  your  subjects  and 

havoc  of  mankind,  like  the  to  yourself.     .     .    Has  not 

royal  brute  of  Britain."  the  strength  of  the  crown, 

In  commenting  on  the  whether  influence  or  pre- 
sentence spoken  of  the  rogative,  been  uniformly 
king, ''67/ Wiose  NOD  ALONE  exerted  for  eleven  years 
they  were  permitted  to  do  together,  to  support  a  nar- 
any  thing /^  he  says  :  "  Here  row,  pitiful  system  of  gov- 
is  idohitry  even  without  a  ernment,  which  defeats 
mask;  and  he  who  can  itself  and  answers  no  one 
calmly  hear  and  digest  such  purpose  of  real  power, 
doctrine,  hath  forfeited  his  profit,  or  personal  satisfac- 
claim  to  rationality;  is  an  tion  to  you?''' — Pref 


9g  JUNIUS  UNMASKED. 

apostate  from  the  order  of  "The  minister  who,  by 
manhood,  and  ought  to  be  secret  corruption,  invades 
considered  as  one  who  hath  the  freedom  of  elections, 
not  only  given  up  the  pro-  and  the  ruffian  [meaning 
j)er  dignity  of  man,  hut  the  king]  who,  by  open  vio- 
sunk  hiniself  beneath  the  lence,  destroys  that  free- 
rank  of  animals,  and  eon-  dom,  are  embarked  in  the 
temptibly  crawls  through  same  bottom/^ — Let.  8. 
the  world  like  a  worm.  "  When  Junius  observes 
However,  it  matters  very  that  kings  are  ready  enough 
little  now  what  the  king  to  follow  such  advice,  he 
of  England  either  says  or  does  not  mean  to  insinuate 
does;  he  hath  wickedly  that,  if  the  advice  of  Par- 
broken  through  every  moral  liament  were  good,  the 
and  human  obligation,  king  would  be  so  ready  to 
tram])led  nature  and  con-  follow  it." — Let.  45. 
science  under  his  feet ;  and,  '*  There  is  surely  some- 
by  a  steady  and  uncunstitu-  thing  singularly  beuevo- 
tional  spirit  of  insolence  lent  in  the  character  of 
and  cruelty,  j)rocured  for  our  sovereign.  From  the 
himself  an  universal  ha-  moment  he  ascended  the 
tred."  throne,  there   is  no   crime 

1  shall  now  give  two  of  which  human  nature  is 
j)assages  from  another  por-  capable  (and  1  call  upon 
tion  of  Mr.  Paine's  work  the  recorder  to  witness  it) 
to  parallel  with  the  last  that  has  not  a)>peared 
two  of  Junius  on  the  king:   venial  in  his  sight." — Let. 

"Good  heavens!  what  48. 
volumes  of  thanks  does  "  I  know  that  man  [the 
America  owe  to  Britain!  king]  much  better  than 
What  infinite  obligation  to  any  of  you.  Nature  in- 
the  tool  that  lills  with  tended  him  only  for  a  good 
jKiradoxiciil  vacancy  the  humored  fool.  A  system- 
throne!" — Crisis,  iii.  atieal  education,  with  long 

"The connection  between  practice,  has  made  him  a 
vice  and  meanness  is  a  fit  consummate  hypocrite.  .  . 
subject  for  satire,  but  when  What  would  have  been  the 
the  satire  is  a  fact  it  cuts  triumphof  that  odious  hyp- 


COMMON  ^SENSE.  89 

with  the  irresistible  power  ocrite  and  his  minions  if 
of  a  diamond.  If  a  Qna-  Wilkes  had  been  defeated? 
ker,  in  defense  of  his  jnst  It  was  not  your  fault,  rev- 
rights,  his  property,  and  the  erend  sir,  that  he  did  not 
chastity  of  his  house,  takes  enjoy  it  completely." — Let. 
up  a  musket  lie  is  expelled  51,  to  Rev.  Mr.  Home, 
the  meeting;  but  the  pres-  '^Though  the  Kennedies 
ent  king  of  England,  who  were  convicted  of  a  most 
seduced  and  took  into  keep-  deliberate  and  atrocious 
ing  a  sister  of  their  society,  murder,  they  still  had  a 
is  reverenced  and  su[)ported  claim  to  the  royal  mercy, 
by  repeated  testimonies.  They  were  saved  by  the 
while  the  friendly  noodle  chastity  of  their  connec- 
from  whom  she  was  taken,  tions.  They  had  a  sister; 
and  who  is  now  in  this  city,  yet  it  was  not  her  beauty, 
continues  a  drudge  in  the  but  the  pliancy  of  her  vir- 
service  of  his  rival,  as  if  tue,  that  recommended  her 
proud  of  being  cuckolded  to  the  king. 
by  a  creature  called  a  ''  The  holy  author  of 
king." — Crisis,  iii.  our   religion    was    seen    in 

The  above  will  explain  the  company  of  sinners; 
a  passage  in  Junius — Let.  but  it  was  his  gracious  pur- 
56 — which  is  as  follows:  pose  to  convert  them  from 
"  You  must  confess  that  their  sins.  Another  man 
even  Charles  the  Second  who,  in  the  ceremonies  of 
would  have*  blushed  at  that  our  faith,  might  give  les- 
open  encouragement,  at  sons  to  the  great  enemy  of 
those  eager,  meretricious  it,  upon  diiferent  prin(;i- 
caresses,  with  which  every  pies,  keeps  much  the  same 
species  of  private  vice  and  company.  He  advertises 
public  prostitution  is  re-  for  patients,  collects  all  iha 
ceived  at  St.  James'."  diseases   of  the   heart,  and 

turns  a  royal  palace  into 
an  hospital  for  incurables. 
A  man  of  honor  has  no 
ticket  of  admission  at 
St.  James\  They  receive 
him  like  a   virgin  at   the 


90  JUNIUS  UNMASKED. 

Magdalen's — '  Go  thou  and 
do  likewise/" — Let.  67,  to 
Lord  Mansfield. 

I  will  now  make  a  few  remarks  upon  Common 
Sense.  I  have  introduced  a  few  extracts  to  show  its 
spirit,  scope,  and  object ;  and  the  opinions,  principles, 
language,  and  style  of  Mr.  Paine.  I  have  also  thrown 
by  the  side  of  them  the  similar  characteristics  of 
Junius,  but  this  is  not  all. 

Common  Sense  was  to  America  what  Junius  would 
have  been  to  England  if  the  same  success  had  attended 
it.  There  is  apian  in  Common  Sense  similar  to  that 
of  Junius.  It  opens  the  new  year  with* a  new  policy  ; 
it  begins  by  a  contrast  between  society  and  government; 
it  attacks  the  government  and  defends  the  original 
rights  of  the  people ;  it  assaults  the  king  and  his 
minions;  it  defends  republicanism  against  royalty;  it 
calls  on  the  people  to  rebel  against  the  tyrant,  to  take 
up  arras  in  their  defense,  and  to  establish  government 
upon  the  natural  and  original  riglitsof  the  ])cople.  If 
one  will  study  the  two  works  he  will  find  not  only 
the  general  plan  the  same,  but  even  in  detail  they 
strikingly  corrcs})()nd  ;  showing  the  same  head  to  plan, 
and  the  same  hand  to  execute.  There  is  the  same 
language,  the  same  figures  of  speech,  the  same  wit,  the 
same  method  of  argumentation,  the  same  withering 
satire,  the  same  a]>])cals  to  Heaven,  and  the  same 
bold,  proud,  uucon(]ucrablo  spirit,  in  the  one  as  in  the 
other. 

If  Mr.  Paine  was  Junius,  llu'so  things  would  natu- 
rally be  expected.  And  it  would  be  expected,  also, 
that   having   failed    to   prwluce   the   desired  effect  in 


COMMON  SENSE.  ^\  . 

England,  and  all  further  effort  there  being  at  an  end, 
that  if  Junius  lived  he  would  change  his  base  of 
operations  if  a  favorable  opportunity  offered,  and  strike 
once  more  for  the  liberties  of  the  people.  Thus  the 
natural  order  of  things  leads  us  to  an  irresistible  con- 
clusion. But  in  order  not  to  be  too  hasty  we  ought  to 
ask  :  Is  there  not  one  fact  in  the  whole  life  and  character 
of  Mr.  Paine  incompatible  with  Junius?  When  it  is 
found  I  will  surrender  the  argument.  But  let  us 
proceed. 

Nature  is  prodigal  of  varieties.  No  two  individuals 
are  alike,  either  in  physical  form  or  mental  features. 
Great  differences  may  be  found  even  among  those  most 
resembling  each  other,  but  when  we  find  a  man 
prominent  among  his  fellow-kind,  it  is  because  of 
marked  characteristics  in  which  he  greatly  differs  from 
the  rest.  These  characteristics  are  expressed  in  action. 
A  record  of  these  actions  is  the  history  of  men.  Faust 
gives  us  movable  type,  and  Watt  the  steam-engine. 
Newton  asks  nature  to  reveal  her  mode  of  operation  in 
the  movement  of  matter.  Bacon  asks  her  for  her 
method.  Buckle  inquires  after  the  science  of  history. 
Napoleon  Avas  a  magazine  of  war.  And  thus  great 
minds  reveal  themselves  in  their  own  way;  and  the 
more  striking  and  peculiar  the  characteristic,  the  more 
easily  can  we  distinguish  and  describe  the  person.  Mr. 
Paine  was  a  literary  adventurer.  And  unlike  adven- 
turers in  conquest  or  discovery,  he  left  the  record  of  his 
course  as  he  went  along.  His  was  not  a  path  in  the 
sea,  nor  foot-prints  in  the  sand,  but  a  work  like  that 
of  Euclid  or  Laplace,  carved  out  of  thought ;  he  called 


93  JUNIUS  UNMASKED. 

out  of*  chaos  a  new  world  of  politics;  he  fought 
great  battles  and  won  victories  with  the  pen.  To 
know  the  man,  then,  we  must  examine  his  writings. 
To  this  end,  therefore,  I  call  the  reader's  attention  to 
his  style. 


STYLE. 

I  WILL  first  make  some  concise  remarks  upon  this 
subject,  to  aid  us  in  comparing  Junius  with  Mr.  Paine ; 
because  I  propose  to  show  that  the  style  of  the  one  is 
the  style  of  the  other. 

Style,  by  most  authors,  is  treated  under  the  following 
heads :  Pe^'spicuity ,  Vivacity y  and  Beauty.  Perspicuity, 
I  defiue,  the  clear  and  true  expression  of  our  thoughts 
in  the  fewest  words.  Vivacity  is  the  energy  or  life  of 
expression ;  it  attracts  the  attention,  and  excites  the 
imagination.  It  takes  the  will  by  storm  and  produces 
conviction.  Combined  with  perspicuity  it  becomes 
eloquence.  Beauty  is  the  harmony  and  smoothness  of 
of  expression,  and  is  often  made  synonymous  with 
elegance. 

The  first  requisite  in  style  is  perspicuity.  It  is  a 
prevalent  notion  among  the  vulgar  that  clearness  of 
expression  leads  to  dryness  and  dullness  in  speaking  or 
writing,  owing  to  the  plain  garb  in  which  ideas  are 
clothed.  But  the  fact  is,  the  very  reverse  of  this  is  true, 
and  as  the  legitimate  result. 

Words  are  said  to  be  the  signs  of  ideas,  or  symbols  of 
thought.  But  words  spoken  is  thought  passing  in  the  air ; 
they  are  ideas  in  invisible  vibrations,  and  a  sound  can 
neither  be  a  sign  nor  a  symbol.  But  words  written  are  sym- 

(93) 


94  JUNIUS  UNMASKED. 

bols  of  thought.  Language  addresses  both  the  ear  and  the 
eye.  The  true  end  and  aim  of  language  is  to  make 
others  feel  the  full  force  of  an  idea  as  it  is  felt  by  the 
speaker.  Language  must  therefore  be  forever  imperfect, 
and  this  from  the  nature  of  things,  or  at  least  till 
ideas  can  be  silently  conveyed  upon  the  waves  of  some 
subtle  nerve  force.  Ideas  flit  from  the  mind  with  the 
rapidity  of  lightning.  To  the  inward  beholder  truth 
becomes  visible  at  times  instantaneously.  He  sees  it, 
he  feels  it;  it  fills  him  with  emotions;  it  struggles  for 
utterance.  Truth  writhes  to  get  free  and  become 
universally,  instead  of  particularly,  known  and  felt.  It 
may  be  and  is  felt  instantaneously,  yet  it  can  not  be 
expressed  in  words  for  hours,  and  perhaps  never:  cer- 
tainly never  as  it  should  be.  Truth  rests  in  the  mind, 
or  flutters  there  in  ideal  beauty.  It  requires  an  artist 
transcending  earthly  perfection  to  breathe  it  to  the 
ear  or  throw  it  out  to  the  eye  on  canvas.  The  tongue 
and  hand  both  fail,  the  sounds  are  discordant,  and  the 
lines  are  broken.  In  the  one  instance  we  have  a  jumble 
of  sounds,  and  in  the  other  a  daub  for  a  picture. 

It  becomes  apparent  at  once,  the  more  words  we  use 
to  express  thought,  the  more  it  is  cumbered  with 
technicalities  and  idiomatic  phrases,  just  so  much 
more  gross,  and  feeble,  and  uninviting  it  becomes, 
because  robbed  of  its  ideal  beauty.  But,  on  the  con- 
trary, if  a  word  or  a  look  or  a  touch  could  express  it, 
its  beauty,  and  its  power,  and  its  worth  woultl  not  be 
thus  blemished.  Byron  would  have  spoken  that  word 
were  it  lightning.  Hence  arises  the  interest  and  charm 
in  behoUling  the  picture  of  an  artist,  where  so  much  is 
revealed    at   a   glance ;    for   it    is   thought   which    is 


STYLE.  95 

expressed  there.  Hence,  also,  it  becomes  evident  that 
far  more  can  be  expressed  in  a  figure  of  speech,  quickly 
and  boldly  put,  than  could  be  otherwise  presented  in 
hours  or  days.  ^*  A  single  hieroglyphic  character,^' 
says  Champoleon  le  June,  "would  probably  convey 
more  to  the  mind  of  an  ancient  Egyptian  than  a  quarto 
page  would  to  a  European." 

Perspicuity,  therefore,  is  not  necessarily  devoid  of 
energy  or  elegance,  in  fact  the  only  means  to  secure  a 
clear  and  concise  style  is  to  use  the  trope — especially 
in  the  two  forms  of  metaphor  and  comparison  :  observ- 
ing always  that  long  and  labored  figures  of  speech  are 
generally  ambiguous,  and  always  have  a  bad  effect. 
Their  beauty,  and  worth,  and  power  consist  in  the 
brevity  and  clearness  with  which  they  are  expressed. 
"  The  thought  expressed  in  a  single  line  by  Chaucer," 
says  Lord  Karnes,  "  gives  more  luster  to  a  young 
beauty,  than  the  whole  of  his  much  labored  poem, 

"  Up  rose  the  sun,  and  up  rose  Emilie." 

Perspicuity,  then,  we  would  consider  the  very  soul  of 
vivacity,  and  vivacity  the  soul  of  eloquence. 

The  elegance  or  beauty  of  expression  is  of  far  less 
consequence,  and  must  often  be  sacrificed  to  the  very 
nature  of  ideas.  It  can  not  be  said  that  all  ideas  are 
beautiful.  There  are  uncomely  and  hideous  things  on 
earth ;  there  are  disagreeable  and  hateful  subjects  to  be 
spoken  of,  and  there  are  painful  feelings  to  be  expressed. 
Language  would  fail  to  subserve  the  end  for  which  it 
exists,  did  it  not  correspond  to  the  sources  of  thought 
and  the  objects  to  be  described;  otherwise  it  would  not 
be  language.     To  be  elegant,  therefore,  at  all  times,  in 


96  JUNIUS  UNMASKED. 

speaking  or  writing,  involves  an  absurdity,  inasmuch 
as  only  a  part  of  our  ideas  could  be  exjiressed  were  this 
the  case.  The  simple  narration  of  facts  enlightens; 
elegance  soothes  and  pleases;  but  vivacity  moves  to 
action.  It  is  the  duty  of  the  writer  to  make  his  style 
and  language  correspond  with  his  subject. 

Keeping  the  foregoing  principles  in  view,  the  reader 
may  apply  such  terms  to  the  piece  he  reads,  or  the 
discourse  he  hears,  as  may  be  most  fitting.  It  is  thus 
we  speak  of  concise,  diffuse,  bold,  feeble,  nervous,  ])lain, 
neat,  dry,  or  flowery  styles.  A  full  sentence  or  period ^ 
as  it  is  called,  must  therefore  have:  1.  Precision;  that 
is,  it  must  be  clear  and  not  ambiguous  :  2.  Unifi/  ;  that 
is,  it  must  not  have  crowded  into  it  different  subjects : 
3.  Strength;  that  is,  all  unnecessary  words  must  be 
tlirown  away,  and  it  must  be  built  with  such  mechan- 
ical skill  as  will  render  it  the  most  forcible  to  the  mind : 
and,  4.  Harmony ;  that  is,  it  must  sound  with  the 
sense. 

For  the  purpose  of  an  argument,  it  is  immaterial  to 
me  whether  I  have  cause  to  praise  or  censure  the  style 
of  Mr.  Paine.  .It  is  a  comparison  of  the  known  with  the 
unknown,  in  which  I  am  about  to  engage,  and  it  is 
the  VikeneHSy  not  the  merits,  which  I  wish  to  bring  out. 
A  good  or  a  bad  style  would  not  affect  the  similarity 
were  either  jiroduced  by  the  same  hand.  But  it  is  a 
fact  worthy  of  remark,  as  I  am  passing,  that  a  bud 
style  in  writing  or  speaking,  has  never  prmhiced  any 
marked  effect  tipon  the  world.  It  is  the  nature  of 
groat  minds  to  be  possessed  of  clear  ideas,  and  to  such 
minds  nature  never  withholds  the  gift  of  purity  of 
diction. 


STYLE.  97 

The  style  of  Mr.  Paine  is  as  peculiar  as  the  great  mind 
that  produced  it,  and  I  will  describe  it  to  be :  strong, 
bold,  clear,  and  harmonious.  The  construction  of  any 
of  his  pieces,  is  like  the  building  of  a  fine  edifice.  He 
never  begins  Avithout  plan  and  specifications.  He 
builds  it  in  the  ideal  before  he  puts  it  on  paper. 
The  reader  finds  a  foundation  fit  and  substantial  in  the 
first  paragraph,  often  in  the  first  sentence.  Upon  this 
he  finds  a  superstructure  to  correspond,  which  in  size 
and  proportions,  is  neat  and  artistic,  constructed  with 
each  separate  material  of  the  best  kind,  and  in  its 
proper  place,  never  left  without  cornice  and  entablature, 
so  that  when  taken  all  together  it  is  most  pleasing  and 
useful.  He  never  leaves  a  period  like  a  broken  column, 
yet  a  careless  vine  sometimes  winds  around  it,  to  attract 
the  mind  from  its  stately  proportions,  and  we  have  lost 
the  argument  in  the  beauty  of  the  figure.  But  the 
effect  is  momentary.  He  soon  brings  us  back  to  the 
practical  and  the  real.  And  it  is  his  peculiar  beauty, 
that  he  does  not  impose  ideas  upon  us  which  his  lan- 
guage can  not  convey  to  the  commonest  understanding. 

Mr.  Jefferson  says  of  his  style:  "No  writer  has 
exceeded  Paine  in  familiarity  of  style,  in  perspicuity  of 
expression,  happiness  of  elucidation,  and  in  simple  and 
unassuming  language." 

Style  presents  the  law,  as  well  as  the  image,  of  the 
writers'  mind;  in  other  words,  style  gives  us  the  true 
portrait  and  habits  of  the  mind,  for  the  mind  can  by 
no  means  counterfeit  itself.  I  will  therefore  proceed  to 
an  analysis  and  comparison  of  Mr.  Paine's  style  with 
that  of  Junius;  and,  first,  of  the  sentence,  or  period. 
The  different  members  are  of  the  same  length,  hence  the 


98  JUNIUS  UNMASKED. 

rythm  or  harmony.  Take  the  following  examples,  and 
I  will  place  bars  between  the  different  members  to  aid 
the  eye : 

''The  style  and  language  you  have  adopted  are,  I 
confess,  |  not  ill  suited  to  the  elegance  of  your  own  man- 
ners, I  or  to  the  dignity  of  the  cause  you  have  under- 
taken. I  Every  common  dauber  writes  rascal  and  villain 
under  his  pictures,  |  because  the  pictures  themselves 
have  neither  character  nor  resemblance.  |  But  the  works 
of  a  master  require  no  index;  |  his  features  and  coloring 
are  taken  from  nature;  |  the  impression  is  immediate 
and  uniform;  |  nor  is  it  possible  to  mistake  the  charac- 
ters, I  whether  they  represent  the  treachery  of  a  minis- 
ter, I  or  the  abused  simplicity  of  a  king.'^  | 

"  Were  I  disposed  to  paint  a  contrast,  |  I  could  easily 
set  off  what  you  have  done  in  the  present  case  |  against 
what  you  would  have  done  in  that  case,  |  and  by  justly 
oi)posing  them,  |  conclude  a  picture  that  would  make 
you  blush.  |  But  as,  when  any  of  the  prouder  passions 
are  hurt,  |  it  is  much  better  philosophy  |  to  let  a  man 
slip  into  a  good  temper  |  than  to  attack  him  in  a  bad 
one —  I  for  that  reason,  therefore,  I  only  state  the 
case,  I  and  leave  you  to  reflect  upon  it.''  | 

"  Ye  that  tell  us  of  harmony  and  reconciliation,  |  can 
ye  restore  to  us  the  time  thiit  is  past?  |  Can  ye  give  to 
prostitution  its  former  innocence?  |  Neither  can  ye  re- 
concile Britain  and  America.  |  The  last  cord  now  is 
broken —  |  the  people  of  England  are  presenting  ad- 
dresses against  us.  |  There  are  injuries  which  nature 
can  not  forgive —  |  she  would  cease  to  be  nature  if  she 
did.  I  As  well  can  the  lover  forgive  the  ravisher  of  his 


STYLE.  99 

mistress,  |  as  the  continent   forgive   the   murders   of 
Britain."  | 

"  The  question  is  not  of  what  metal  your  instruments 
are  made,  |  but  whether  they  are  adapted  to  the  work 
you  have  in  hand.  |  Will  they  grant  you  common  halls 
when  it  shall  be  necessary  ?  |  Will  they  go  up  with  re- 
monstrances to  the  king?  |  Have  they  firmness  enough 
to  meet  the  fury  of  a  venal  House  of  Commons?  |  Have 
they  fortitude  enough  not  to  shrink  at  imprisonment?  | 
Have  they  spirit  enough  to  hazard  their  lives  and  for- 
tunes in  a  contest,  |  if  it  should  be  necessary,  with  a 
prostituted  legislature?  |  If  these  questions  can  fairly 
bQ  answered  in  the  affirmative,  your  choice  is  made.  | 
Forgive  this  passionate  language.  |  I  am  unable  to  cor- 
rect it.  I  The  subject  comes  home  to  us  all.  |  It  is  the 
language  of  my  heaH."  | 

The  above  is  sufficient.  The  first  and  last  paragraphs 
are  from  Junius,  the  other  two  from  Paine.  The  last 
two  paragraphs  are  passionate,  the  first  two  calm  but 
energetic.  Throughout  the  whole,  nature  is  at  work — 
there  is  nothing  artificial.  But  it  was  the  melody  or 
rythm  that  I  wished  to  indicate  to  the  reader.  This  is 
peculiar  and  common  to  both,  and  itself  can  not  be  imi- 
tated. If  a  writer  ever  succeeds  in  reproducing  this 
style,  it  will  be  from  the  nature  of  his  own  mind,  and 
not  from  imitation. 

If  the  reader  will  now  return  to  page  71,  and  com- 
pare the  Dedication  to  Junius  with  the  Introduction  to 
Common  Sense,  he  will  find  in  rythm  a  striking  par- 
allel, because  the  subject  is  the  same,  and  the  mind 
of  the  writer  is  performing  the  same  work. 
7  * 


100  JUNIUS  UNMASKED. 

Grammatical  accuracy  is  often  sacrificed  to  coDcise- 
neps,  as  in  the  following : 

Paine.  Junius. 

"  Many      circumstances       "  If  this  be  your  meaning 
have  and  will  arise  which  and  opinion,  you  will  act 
are  not  local/' — Introduc.     consistently  with  it  in  choos- 
ing Mr.  Nash." — Let.  57. 

Mr.  Paine  was  bold  enough  to  transcend  the  minor 
rules  of  grammar  whenever  he  found  them  cumbersome 
to  his  style.     In  this  he  is  consistent  with  Junius. 

There  is  a  majesty  of  manner,  and  a  grandeur  of 
style,  which  strike  the  mind  of  the  reader  with  great 
force.     Take,  for  example,  the  following : 

Paine.  Junius. 

"  It  was  not  Newton's  "  You  have  still  an  hon- 
honor,  neither  could  it  be  orable  part  to  act.  The  af- 
his  pride,  that  he  was  an  fcctions  of  your  subjects 
Englishman,  but  that  he  may  still  be  recovered;  but, 
was  a  philosopher;  the  before  you  subdue  their 
heavens  had  liberated  him  hearts,  you  must  gain  a  no- 
from  the  prejudices  of  an  ble  victory  over  your  own. 
island,  and  S(;ience  had  ex-  Discard  those  liltle  personal 
panded  his  soul  as  bound-  resentments  which  liavp  too 
less  as  his  studies." — Cri-  long  directed  your  public 
sis,  viii.  conduct.     Pardon  this  man 

"  The  heart  that  feels  not  the  remainder  of  his  punish- 
now  is  dead,  the  blood  of  mont ;  and,  if  resentment 
his  children  will  curse  his  still  prevails,  make  it  wliat 
cowardice  who  shrinks  back  it  should  have  been  long 
at  a  time  when  a  little  since — an  act,  not  of  mercy, 
might     have     saved     the  but  of  contempt.     He  will 


STYLE. 


101 


whole,  and  made  them  hap- 
py. I  love  the  man  that 
can  smile  in  trouble,  that 
can  gather  strength  from 
distress,  and  grow  brave  by 
reflection."  .  .  ,  Speak- 
ing of  the  principles  of  war, 
he  continues :  "  What  sig- 
nifies it  to  me  whether  he 
who  does  it  is  a  king  or  a 
common  man  ;  my  country- 
man or  not  my  country- 
man ;  whether  it  be  done 
by  an  individual  villain  or 
an  army  of  them  ?  .  .  . 
Let  them  call  me  rebel  and 
welcome ;  I  feel  no  concern 
from  it,  but  I  should  suffer 
the  misery  of  devils  were  I 
to  make  a  whore  of  my 
soul  by  swearing  allegiance 
to  one  whose  character  is 
that  of  a  sottish,  stupid, 
stubborn,  worthless,  brutish 
man !  .  .  .  There  are 
cases  which  can  not  be  over- 
done by  language,  and  this 
is  one." — Crisis,  i. 


soon  fall  back  into  his  nat- 
ural station,  a  silent  sena- 
tor, and  hardly  supporting 
the  weekly  eloquence  of 
a  newspaper.  The  gentle 
breath  of  peace  would  leave 
him  on  the  surface  neglect- 
ed and  unremoved ;  it  is 
only  the  tempest  that  lifts 
him  from  his  place. 

"  Without  consulting 
your  ministers,  call  together 
your  whole  council.  Let  it 
appear  to  the  public  that 
you  can  determine  and  act 
for  yourself.  Come  forward 
to  your  people.  Lay  aside 
the  wretched  formalities  of 
a  king,  and  speak  to  your 
subjects  with  the  spirit  of 
a  man,  and  in  the  language 
of  a  gentleman. 
These  sentiments,  sir,  and 
the  style  they  are  conveyed 
in,  may  be  offensive,  per- 
haps, because  they  are  new 
to  you."— Let.  35. 


In  the  following,  diminutives  are  handled  with  tell- 
ing effect : 


Paine. 


Junius^ 


"Indolence  and  inability  "About  this  time  the 
have  too  large  a  share  in  courtiers  talked  of  nothing 
your  composition  ever  to  but  a  bill  of  pains  and  pen- 
suffer  you  to  be  any  thing  alties  against  the  lord 
more  than  the  hero  of  lit-  mayor  and   sheriffs,  or  im- 


102  JUNIUS  UNMASKED. 

tie  villainies  and  unfinished  peachment    at    the    least, 

adventures.^^ — To    Lord  Little  Mannikin  Ellis  told 

Howe,  Crisis,  v.  the  king  that  if  the  busi- 

^*  That  a  man  whose  soul  ness  were  left  to  his  man- 
is  absorbed  in  the  low  traf-  agement  he  would  engage 
fie  of  vulgar  vice,  is  inca-  to  do  wonders.  It  was 
pable  of  moving  in  any  su-  thought  very  odd  that  a 
perior  region,  is  clearly  business  of  so  much  im- 
shown  in  you  by  the  event  portance  should  be  intrust- 
of  every  campaign." — To  ed  to  the  most  contempti- 
Lord  Howe,  Crisis,  v.  ble  little  piece  of  machin- 

"You  may  plan  and  ex-  ery  in  the  whole  kingdom, 

ecute   little  mischiefs,   but  His  honest  zeal,  however, 

are  they  worth  the  expense  was     disappointed.       The 

they  cost  you,  or  will  such  minister  took  fright,  and  at 

partial  evils  have  any  effect  the  very  instant  that  little 

on     the     general     cause  ?  Ellis    was  going  to  open, 

Your    expedition    to    Egg  sent   him   an   order  to  sit 

Harbor    will   be   felt  at  a  down.     All  their  magnau- 

distance  like  an  attack  up-  imous  threats   ended  in  a 

on  a  hen-roost,  and  expose  ridiculous  vote  of  censure, 

you  in  Europe  with  a  sort  and  a  still  more  ridiculous 

of  childish  frenzy." — Crisis,  address    to    the    king." — 

vi.         ,  Note,  Let.  38. 

The  reader  will  observe  that  the  method  also  of  rid- 
icule is  the  same.  A  hundred  examples  of  this  might 
be  selected  from  both ;  and  he  has,  doubtless,  already 
noticed  the  biting  satire  of  both.  The  Letters  of  Jun- 
ius are  among  the  finest  specimens  of  satire  in  the  Eng- 
lish language,  and  are  only  equaled  by  Mr.  Paine^s 
Letters  to  Lord  Howe,  and  passages  in  his  Rights  of  Man 
to  Mr.  Burke.  I  will  give  a  few  extracts.  It  will  be 
remembered  how  Junius  called  the  king  not  only  a 
*'  ruffian,"  but  said  "  nature  only  intended  him  for  a 
good   humored   fool,"  and  that  if  he  ever  retired  to 


STYLE.  103 

America  he  would  get  a  severe  covenant  to  digest  from 
a  people  who  united  in  detesting  the  pageantry  of  a 
king  and  the  supercilious  hypocrisy  of  a  bishop.  With 
this  remembrance  I  will  submit  the  following  piece  of 
satire  from  Crisis,  No.  vi : 

"  Your  rightful  sovereign,  as  you  call  him,  may  do 
well  enough  for  you,  who  dare  not  inquire  into  the 
humble  capacities  of  the  man ;  but  we,  who  estimate 
persons  and  things  by  their  real  worth,  can  not  suffer 
our  judgment  to  be  so  imposed  upon;  and  unless  it  is 
your  wish  to  see  him  exposed,  it  ought  to  be  your  en- 
deavor to  keep  him  out  of  sight.  The  less  you  have  to 
say  about  him  the  better.  We  have  done  with  him, 
and  that  ought  to  be  answer  enough.  You  have  been 
often  told  so.  Strange!  that  the  answer  must  be  so 
often  repeated.  You  go  a  begging  with  your  king  as 
with  a  brat,  or  with  some  unsalable  commodity  you 
are  tired  of;  and  though  every  body  tells  you  no,  no, 
still  you  keep  hawking  him  about.  But  there  is  one 
that  will  have  him  in  a  little  time,  and  as  we  have  no 
inclination  to  disappoint  you  of  a  customer,  we  bid 
nothing  for  him." 

Many  passages  of  similar  severity  could  be  collected. 
In  fact,  the  two  I^etters  addressed  to  Lord  Howe  are 
not  equaled  in  force  or  severity  by  the  most  savage 
of  Junius'  productions.  I  now  call  attention  to  other 
parallel  peculiarities. 

The  manner  of  threatening,  commanding,  and  warn- 
ing, is  the  same : 

Paine,  Junius, 

"  I  hold  up  a  warning  to       "  The     English     nation 


104  JUNIUS  UNMAfiKED. 

your  senses,  if  you  have  must  be  roused  and  put 
any  left.  .  .  I  call,  not  upon  its  guard.  .  .  The 
with  the  rancor  of  an  ene-  corruption  of  the  legisla- 
niy,  but  the  earnestness  of  tive  body  on  this  side,  a 
a  friend,  on  the  deluded  military  force  on  the  other, 
])eople  of  England.  .  .  .  and  then  farewell  to  Eng- 
There  is  not  a  nobleman's  land.'' — Let.  40. 
country  seat  but  may  be  "Sullen  and  severe  with- 
laid  iu  ashes  by  a  single  out  religion,  profligate 
2)erson." — Crisis,   vi.  without    gayety,  you    live 

"A  change  of  the  minis-  like  Charles  the  Second, 
try  in  England  may  proba-  without  being  an  amiable 
bly  bring  your  measures  companion,  and,  for  aught 
into  question  and  your  head  I  know,  may  die  as  his 
to  the  block." — To  Lord  father  did,  without  the 
Howe,  Crisis,   v.  v   reputation  of  a  martyr." — 

"Go  home,  sir,  and  en-  Let.  12. 
deavor  to  save  the  remains  "  Return,  my  lord,  be- 
of  your  ruined  country  by  fore  it  be  too  late,  to  that 
a  just  representation  of  the  easy,  insipid  system  which 
madness  of  her  measures,  you  first  set  out  with. 
A  few  moments  well  ap-  Take  back  your  mistress, 
plied  may  yet  preserve  her  Indulge  the  people.  At- 
irom  political  destruction."  tend  New  Market.  To  be 
—Crisis,  v.  weak  and  inactive  is  safer 

"  The  farce  of  monarchy  than  to  be  daring  and 
and  arist(K;racy  in  all  conn-  criminal ;  and  wide  is  the 
tries  is  following  that  of  disUmce  between  a  riot  of 
chivalry,  and  Mr.  Burke  the  populace  and  a  convul- 
is  dressing  for  the  funeral,  sion  of  the  whole  king- 
TUe  time  w  not  very  distniH  dom." — Let.  11. 
when  England  will  laugh  "  7%e  pen'od  is  not  very 
ut  itself  for  sending  to  Hoi-  distant  at  which  you  will 
land,  llanovor,  Zell,  or  have  the  means  of  redress 
Brunswick,  for  men,  at  the  in  your  own  jwwer ;  it  may 
expense  of  a  million  a  year,  be  nearer,  perhaps,  than 
who  understand  neither  her  any  of  us  exiMjct,  and  I 
laws,  her  language,  nor  her  Would  warn  you  to  be  pre- 


STYLE.  105 

interest,  and  whose  capaci-  pared     for    it."  —  Dedica- 
ties   would    scarcely  have  tion. 
fitted  them  for  the  office  of 
parish  constable/' — E-ights 
of  Man. 

But  examples  of  this  kind  are  not  wanting  in  any 
chapter  or  Letter.  The  threat,  the  command,  the  warn- 
ing, is  a  peculiarity  so  prominent  that  no  one  would 
fail  to  observe  it.  And  this  peculiarity  often  passes 
into  the  style  of  prophecy.  As  above,  Junius  says: 
"  The  period  is  not  very  distant,''  and  Mr.  Paine  re- 
peats the  expression  in  the  same  style :  ^^  The  time  is 
not  very  distant."  This  reveals,  not  a  literary  theft, 
but  a  mind  whose  mode  of  thinking  and  expression 
was  ever  the  same. 

The  reader  will  furthermore  notice  the  peculiarity 
in  the  use  of  "sir,"  and  the  expressions,  "You,  Sir 
William,'^  "  You,  sir,"  so  common  to  both.  This 
arises  from  the  proud  and  commanding  character  of 
Mr.  Paine.  He  always  talks  as  one  having  authority, 
when  addressing  those  he  wishes  to  satirize,  but  with 
an  avowed  modesty  when  addressing  those  he  wishes 
to  iiiifluence.  This  last  is  seen  in  Junius,  with  regard 
to  Lords  Rockingham  and  Chatham,  when  speaking 
of  parliamentary  reform,  and  in  Common  Sense,  when 
s])eaking  of  a  constitution  and  methods  of  taxation. 
Junius  says,  after  giving  his  own  views:  "Other 
measures  may,  undoubtedly,  be  supported  in  argu- 
ment, as  better  adapted  to  the  disorder,  or  more  likely 
to  be  obtained.'^  And  Common  Sense  says:  "In  a 
former  page  I  threw  out  a  few  thoughts  on  the  pro^ 


106  JUNIUS   UNMASKED. 

priety  of  a  contiiieutal  charter,  for  I  only  presume  to 
offer  hints,  not  plans."  These  things  point  to  the 
same  mental  source,  and  this  characteristic  influences 
the  style  to  a  marked  degree. 

I  call  attention  now  to  what  is  termed  alliteration: 
the  bringing  words  together  commencing  with  the  same 
letter,  as  follows: 

Paine,  Junius. 


Best  and  brightest. 


Conduct  and  character.  Character  and  conduct. 

Mark  the  movements  and  Concurrence  of  calami- 
meaning,  tons  circumstances. 

For  law  as  for  land.  Catchpenny  contrivance. 

Fears  and  falsities.  Dignity  of  the  design. 

Prejudice  and  preposses-       Enormous  excesses, 
sion.  Faith  and  folly. 

Patron  and  punisher.    •         Fashionable  formality^ 
Wise  and  worthy.  Pernicious  principles,  etc 

Stay  and  starve.  Good     faith    and     folly 

Reconciliation  and  ruin  have  long  been  received  as 
are  nearly  related.  synonymous  terms. 

The  above  are  only  a  few  examples.  Almost  every 
page  exhibits  this  feature  of  the  writer*  It  is  a  mania 
with  Mr.  Paine,  and  it  is  almost  the  ^v^t  observable 
feature  of  Junius.  No  other  author  that  I  have  read 
so  abounds  in  alliteration.  But  herein  Junius  and 
Mr.  Paine,  not  content  with  two  words,  frctju^ntiy 
unite  three,  as  in  some  of  the  examples  above.  They 
also  bring  two  words  thus  together,  and  ascending  from 
the  sound  to  the  sense,  give  them  relationship  in  mean- 
ing; as  in  the  last  examples  above. 


STYLE,  107 

As  alliteration  exhibits  a  law  of  the  mind,  it  can 
easily  be  determined,  by  the  rule  of  averages,  whether 
Mr.  Paine  and  Junius  agree.  I  have  estimated  the 
ratio  by  counting  twenty  thousand  words  in  each,  and 
have  found  them  to  average  the  same.  Were  all  the 
words  in  Junius  counted  and  compared  with  the  same 
number  in  Mr.  Paine's  political  writings,  it  would  give 
the  true  law  of  averages,  but  twenty  thousand  words 
will  give  an  approximation  not  far  from  the  truth. 

There  is  another  peculiarity  in  the  style  of  Mr. 
Paine  and  Junius,  arising  out  of  this  law  of  the  mind, 
or  this  mania  for  alliteration,  which  is  to  continue  the 
alliteration  throughout  the  paragraph.  For  example, 
if  a  prominent  word  begins  with  an  f,  t,  or  p,  or  any 
other  letter,  he  continues  to  select  words  beginning 
with  the  same  letter,  or  in  which  the  sound  is  promi- 
nent, while  expressing  the  same  thought  or  idea.  In 
the  following  he  plays  upon  like  letters  in  a  wonder- 
ful manner.     I  will  put  the  words  in  italics : 

Paine,  Junius, 

"  Perhaps  the  sentiments  "  Prejudices  and  passions 
contained  in  the  following  have,  sometimes,  carried  it 
pages,  are  not  yet  sufficient-  to  a  criminal  length,  and 
ly  fashionable  to  procure  whatever  foreigners  may 
them  general  favor;  a  long  imagine,  we  know  that 
habit  of  not  thinking  a  thing  Englishmen  have  erred  as 
wrong  gives  it  a  superficial  much  in  a  mistaken  zeal /or 
appearaiice  of  being  7nght,  pa7'ticular  persons  and  fam- 
and  raises,  at  first,  a  for-  Hies  as  they  ever  did  in  de- 
midable  outcry  in  defense  of  fense  of  what  they  thought 
custom.  But  the  tumult  most  dear  and  interesting 
soon  subsides.  Time  makes  to  themselves.''^ — Let.  1. 
more  converts  than  reason/' 
C.  S.,  Introd. 


108  JUNIUS  UNMASKED. 

I  have  not  gone  out  of  my  way  for  the  above  ex- 
amples. Thousands  of  just  such  examples  may  be 
taken  from  both.  This,  together  with  the  even  length 
of  the  members  of  the  period,  is  what  produces  the 
rythm  and  harmony  of  Mr.  Paine^s  style,  and  which  I 
have  never  seen  paralleled,  except  in  Junius.  I  have 
compared  it  with  a  hundred  authors,  and  never  have  I 
found  any  thing  like  it.  But  Junius  is  in  no  respect 
unlike  Mr.  Paine.  Had  a  perfect  portrait  been 
painted  of  Mr.  Paine,  at  the  time  he  wrote  his  Com- 
mon Sense,  and  another  at  the  time  Junius  wrote  his 
Letters,  the  two  portraits  could  not  have  more  resem- 
bled cacli  other  than  does  the  style  of  Junius  resemble 
that  of  Mr.  Paine.  And  this  is  what  can  not  be  imi- 
tated, for  it  arises  out  of  the  constitution  of  the  mind, 
just  like  poetry  or  music;  and  the  poet  and  musician 
are  born,  not  made. 

Mr.  Paine  and  Junius  never  use  poetry,  unless  it  be 
a  line  at  the  head  of  a  piece.  And  they  both  ridicule 
the  use  of  it  in  prose  composition. 

Faine.  Junius. 

"  I    can    consider    Mr.  "  These  lettei-s,  my  lord, 

Burke's  book   in   scarcely  are  read  in  other  countries 

any    other    light    than    a  and    in    other    languages, 

dramatic  ])errormance,  and  and  I  think  I  may  aflirm 

he    must,    1    think,    have  without    vanity,   that    the 

considered   it   in  the  same  gracious   character   t)f   the 

light  himself  by  the/>oc//c(r/  best  of  princes   is   by  this 

liberties   he   has   taken  of  time     not    only    j)erfe<'tly 

omitting   some   facts,   dia-  known  to  his  sul)iects,  but 

tort ing  others,  and  making  tolerably    well    undei'stood 

the  macliinery  bend  to  pro-  by  tlie  rest  of  Europe.     In 

duce  a  stage  effect.    .    .    .  this   respect  alone  I  have 


STYLE.  109 

I  have  now  to  follow  Mr.  the  advantage  of  Mr. 
Burke  through  a  pathless  Whitehead.  His  plan,  I 
wilderness  of  rhapsodies."  think,  is  too  narrow.  He 
— Rights  of  Man,  part  i.      seems  to  manufacture   his 

verses  for  the  sole  use  of 
the  hero  who  is  supposed  to 
be  the  subject  of  them,  and, 
that  his  meaning  may  not 
be  exported  in  foreign  bot- 
toms, sets  all  translation  at 
defiance."— Let.  49. 

They  sometimes  wander  from  the  point,  and  then 
bring  the  reader  back  by  mentioning  the  fact : 

Paine,  Junius. 

''But  to  return   to   the       "But,  sir,  I  am  sensible 
case  in  question." — Crisis,   I   have  followed  your  ex- 
vii  and  xiii.     '^  Passing  on  ample  too  long,  and  wan- 
from  this  digression^  I  shall  dered   from   the   point."—" 
now  endeavor  to  bring  into  Let.  18. 
one  view  the  several  parts." 
— Crisis,  viii.    "  But  to  re- 
turn   to    my    account." — 
Rights  of  Man,  part  i. 

Another  peculiarity  is  the  method  of  bringing  the 
subject  '^  into  one  view :" 

Paine.  Jvmus. 

See  last  quotation  above.        "This,  sir,  is  the  detail. 

"Having  now  finished  this  In  one  view,  behold,"  etc. 

subject,  I  shall  bring  the  — Let.  1. 
several     parts     into     one       See  also  Letter  13. 
view." — Rights    of    Man, 
part  ii.  • 


110  JUNIUS,  UNMASKED, 

I  have  before  called  attention  to  the  manner  in  which 
Mr.  Paine  signed  his  Introduction  to  Common  Sense, 
and  Junius  his  Dedication;  but  there  is  a  similarity  in 
the  manner  in  which  they  frequently  close  their  pieces. 
The  expressions,  "To  conclude,"  "I  shall  conclude/' 
"  I  shall  therefore  conclude,"  are  used  by  both. 

There  is  a  marked  peculiarity  in  taking  illustrations 
from  the  Bible,  and  I  now  speak  of  and  compare  the 
political  writings  of  Mr.  Paine  with  Junius.  Junius  is 
filled  with  such  references,  and  they  are  no  less  plenti- 
ful in  Common  Sense.  This  leads  me  on  to  speak  of 
figures  of  speech. 

In  the  use  of  the  trope  I  find  the  one  a  reproduction 
of  the  other.  The  metaphor  comes  before  us  in  every 
conceivable  beauty,  aud  herein  they  paint  with  an  art- 
ist's skill,  and  the  many  delicate  touches,  as  well  as  bold 
strokes,  show  the  same  hand  at  the  brush.  There  is 
never,  for  example,  a  long  and  labored  metaphor ;  never 
a  company  of  them  together;  never  one  that  does  not 
apply  with  admirable  effect. 

At  the  close  of  an  article,  a  figure  of  speech  is  often 
used  with  a  master's  skill,  and  leaves  an  impression  on 
the  mind  of  the  reader  not  easily  effaced.  In  this  they 
are  alike.  Junius,  for  example,  closes  thirty -six  of  his 
Letters  in  this  manner ;  and  in  Mr.  Paine's  three  works — 
Common  Sense,  The  Crisis,  and  Rights  of  Man — he 
closes  twenty -three  parts  in  this  manner,  which  gives 
us  about  the  same  ratio.  They  both  abound  in  meta- 
phor and  comparison.  Seldom  do  they  use  allegory  or 
hyperbole,  but  personification  and  exclamation  are  fire- 


STYLE,  111 

quent.  I  will  now  give  a  few  parallels  which  I  have 
selected  from  the  many  examples,  and  I  will  begin  the 
list  with  exclamations  so  common  to  both : 

Paine.  Junius, 

Alas!  But,  alas! 

I  thank  God!  I  thank  God! 

For  God's  sake !  Would  to  God ! 
In  the  name  of  Heaven !       In  God's  name ! 

Good  God !  May  God  protect  me ! 

Good  Heavens!  I  appeal  to  God  for  my 
I  pray  God !                       sincerity ! 

The  expression,  "  I  thank  God  V^  is  the  most  frequent 
with  both.  As  this  is  not  common  with  writers,  the 
parallel  is  a  strong  one.     But  to  continue : 

Paine,       '  Junius, 

"  Every  political  physi-  "  It  is  not  the  disorder, 
cian  will  advise  a  differ-  but  the  physician — it  is  the 
ent  medicine." — Common  pernicious  hand  of  govern- 
Sense.  ment/' — Let.  1. 

'*  Why  is  the  nation  sick-  "  Infuse  a  portion  of  new 
ly?"  health   into    the    constitu- 

tion."—Let.  ^%, 

"Like  a  prodigal  lin-  "No  man  regards  an 
gering  in  habitual  con-  eruption  on  the  surfdce 
sumption,  you  feel  the  relics  when  the  noble  parts  are 
of  life,  and  mistake  them  invaded  and  he  feels  a  mor- 
for  recovery." — Address  to  tification  approaching  the 
English  people.  heart." — Let.  39. 

"  These  are  the  times  that  "  These  are  not  the  times 
try  men's  souls." — Crisis,  i.  to  admit  of  any  relaxation 

in  the  little  discipline  we 
have  left." 


112  JUNIUS  UNMASKED. 

The  constituents  "mak-  "Under  the  rod  of  the 
ing  a  rod  for  themselves/'  constituent." 

Speaking  of  Abbe  Ray-  Speaking  of  M.  de 
naPs  work,  he  calls  it  a  Lolnie's  Essay  on  Govern- 
^^ performance,^^ — Letter  to.   ment,  he  calls  it  a  ^^perfcn^m" 

anceJ' — Preface.  - 

"At  stake."  This  ex-  "At  stake.''  This  ex- 
pression is  very  frequent.      pression  is  very  fi^qiient. 

"In  one  view."  Quite  "In  one  view."  Quite 
frequent.  frequent. 

"The  time  is  not  very  "The  period  is  not  very 
distant."  -  distant." 

''  The    simple    voice   of       "  The  voice  of  truth  and 
nature  and  reason  will  say  reason  must  be  silent." 
it  is  right." 

"  Where  nature  hath  "  Nature  has  been  spar- 
given  the  one  she  hath  ing  of  her  gifts  to  this 
witliheld  the  other."  noble  lord." 

"  For  as  the  greater  "  We  incline  the  balance 
weight  will  always  carry  as  effectually  by  lessening 
up  the  less,  and  all  the  the  weight  in  the  one  scale 
wheelsof  a  machine  are  put  as  by  increasing  it  in  the 
in  motion  by  one,  it  only  other." 
remains  to  know  which  "You  would  fain  be 
power  in  the  constitution  thought  to  take  no  share 
has  most  weight."  in    government,    while   in 

reality  you  are  the  main- 
spring of  the  machine.'' 

"One  of  the  strongest  "  It  is  you,  Sir  William, 
natural  ])roofs  of  the  folly  who  make  your  friend  aj)- 
of  hereditary  right  in  kings  |war  awkward  and  riilicu- 
is  that  nature  dis(ipj)roirti  Ions,  by  giving  him  a  laced 
itf  otherwise  she  would  not  suitoftavvdry  qualifications 
80  frequently  turn  it  into  wh'wh  nature  never  intended 
ridicule  by  giving  nuinkind  him  to  wear." 
an  ass  for  a  lion." 


STYLE.  113 

In  the  last  metaphor  nature  personified  is  brought 
forward  as  the  actor,  by  turning  to  ridicule  the  vanity 
of  man  in  assuming  more  than  he  is.  Junius,  without 
expressing  it  in  words,  has  put  forward  the  fable  of 
the  ass  in  a  lion's  skin,  when  speaking  of  Lord  Gran- 
by^s  courage.  But  Mr.  Paine  has  applied  the  same 
fable  to  the  king.  The  figures  are  differently  ex- 
pressed but  exactly  the  same. 

Paine.  Junius. 

*^  Like  wasting  an  estate  "  Like  broken  tenants 
on  a  suit  at  law  to  regulate  who  have  had  warning  to 
the  trespasses  of  a  tenant,  quit  the  premises,  they 
whose  lease  is  just  expir-  curse  their  landlord,  de- 
ing."  stroy   the    fixtures,    throw 

every  thing  into  confusion, 
and  care  not  what  mischief 
they  do  the  estate.^' 

The  above  is  the  same  figure,  but  differently  applied. 
This  figure  is  quite  often  used  by  Mr.  Paine  and  Junius. 

Paine.  '  Junius. 

"  Quitting  this  class  of  "  I  turn  with  pleasure 
men,  I  turn  with  the  warm  from  that  barren  waste  in 
ardor  of  a  friend,  to  those  which  no  salutary  plant 
who  have  nobly  stood  and  takes  root,  no  verdure 
are  yet  determined  to  stand  quickens,  to  a  character  fer- 
the  matter  out.  I  call  not  tile  as  I  willingly  believe 
upon  a  few,  but  upon  all,  in  every  great  and  good 
up  and  help  us;  lay  your  qualification.  -I  call  upon 
shoulders  to  the  wheel.'' —  you,  in  the  name  of  the 
Crisis,  i.  English    nation,    to    stand 

forth  in  defense  of  the  laws 
of  your  country  and  to  ex- 
ert in  the  cause  of  truth 


114  JUNIUS  UNMASKED. 

and  justice  those  great  abilities  with  which  you  were 
intrusted  for  the  benefit  of  mankind/' — Let.  68. 


There  are  two  facts  in  the  above  parallel  showing 
that  the  same  mind  indited  both.  First :  Turning 
away  from  those  who  have  deserved  and  who  have  been 
receiving  his  censure  to  the  friends  of  the  cause ; 
and,  Secondly:  The  call  which  immediately  follows: 
"I  call  upon  you."  That  it  was  not  stolen  from 
Junius  by  Mr.  Paine,  is  proven  by  two  facts.  First : 
The  language  and  figure  are  different ;  and,  Secondly : 
That  which  makes  it  a  parallel  it  is  impossible  to  steal. 
It  is  a  parallel  of  conditions,  the  one  in  England  and 
the  other  in  America.  But  if  Junius  were  not  Mr.  Paine, 
then  would  the  conditions  be  destroyed.  But  there  is 
a  parallel  of  conditions,  which  can  not  be  plagiarized ; 
therefore  Thomas  Paine  was  Junius. 

If  it  be  argued  in  answer  to  this  reasoning :  There 
might  be  just  such  conditions  existing  with  the  char- 
acter Junius  in  England  as  with  Paine  in  America, 
which  might  produce  a  parallel  as  above,  I  admit  the 
possibility ;  but  the  chances  are  infinity  to  one  against 
such  a  hypothesis. 

But  to  reduce  the  chances  still  more,  let  us  bring  a 
parallel  of  fact  to  illustrate  a  principle  of  naiional 
honor, 

Paine.  ,  Jiinuis, 

"There  is  such  an  idea  "  If  we  recollect  in  what 

in  the  world  as  that  of  na-  manner  the  kin(/\s  friends 

tional  honor,  and  this  false-  have  been   constantly  eni- 

ly  understood  is  oftentimes  ployed,  we  shall   have  no 

the   cause   of  war.     In    a  reason  to  .be  surprised  at 


STYLE.  115 

Christian  and  philosophical  any  condition  of  disgrace 
sense  mankind  seem  to  have  to  which  the  once  respected 
stood    still    at    individual  name  of  Englishman  may 

civilizations,  and  to  retain  be  degraded 

as  nations  all  the  original  The  expedition  against 
rudeness  of  nature.  Peace  Port  Egmont  does  not  ap- 
by  treaty  is  only  a  cessa-  pear  to  have  been  a  sudden 
tion  of  violence  for  a  refor-  ill-concerted  enterprise  :  it 
mation  of  sentiment.  It  is  seems  to  have  been  con- 
a  substitute  for  a  principle  ducted,  not  only  with  the 
that  is  wanting  and  ever  usual  military  precautions, 
will  be  wanting  till  the  idea  but  in  all  the  forms  and 
of  national  honor  is  rightly  ceremonies  of  war.  A 
understood.  I  remember  frigate  was  first  employed 
th^  late  Admiral  Saunders  to  examine  the  strength  of 
declaring  in  the  House  of  the  place.  A  message  was 
Commons,  and  that  in  the  then  sent  demanding  im- 
time  of  peace,  ^  That  the  mediate  possession  in  the 
city  of  Madrid  laid  in  ashes  Catholic  king's  name,  and 
was  not  a  sufficient  atone-  ordering  our  people  to  de- 
ment for  the  Spaniards  tak-  part.  At  last  a  military 
ing  off  the  rudder  of  an  force  appears  and  compels 
English  sloop  of  war.'  I  the  garrison  to  surrender. 
do  not  ask  whether  this  is  A  formal  capitulation  en- 
Christianity  or  morality,  I  sues,  and  his  majesty's  ship, 
ask  whether  it  is  decency  ?  which  might  at  least  have 
whether  it  is  proper  Ian-  been  permitted  to  bring 
guage  for  a  nation  to  use?  home  his  troops  immedi- 
In  private  life  we  call  it  ately,  is  detained  in  port 
by  the  plain  name  of  bully-  twenty  days  and  her  rud- 
ing,  and  the  elevation  of  der  forcibly  taken  away, 
rank  can  not  alter  its  char-  This  train  of  facts  carries 
acter.  It  is,  I  think,  ex-  no  appearance  of  the  rash- 
ceedingly  easy  to  define  ness  or  violence  of  a  Span- 
what  ought  to  be  under-  ish  governor.  Mr.  Bucca- 
stood  by  national  honor ;  relli  is  not  a  pirate,  nor  has 
for  that  which  is  the  best  he  been  treated  as  such  by 
character  for  an  individual  those  who  employed  him. 
8 


116  JUNIUS  UNMASKED. 

is  the  best  character  for  a  I  feel  for  the  hoiK>r  of  a 
nation ;  and  wlierever  the  gentleman  when  I  affirm 
latter  exceeds  or  falls  be-  that  our  king  owes  him  a 
neath  the  former,  there  is  a  signal  reparation.  When 
departure  from  the  line  of  will  the  humility  of  this 
true  greatness."  —  Crisis,  country  end  ?  A  king 
vii.  of  Great  Britain,  not  con- 

tented with  placing  himself 
uj.on  a  level  with  a  Span- 
ish governor,  descends  so 
low  as  to  do  a  notorious  injustice  to  that  gover- 
nor. Thus  it  haj)pens  in  private  life  with  a  man  who 
has  no  spirit  nor  sense  of  hcmor.  One  of  his  equals 
orders  a  servant  to  strike  him  :  instead  of  returning  the 
blow  to  the  master,  his  courage  is  contented  with  throw- 
ing an  aspertion  equally  false  and  public  upon  the 
character  of  the  servant." — Let.  42. 

The  above  parallel,  like  the  preceding  one,  arises 
primarily  in  the  mind  from  the  association  of  ideas. 
The  definition  of  national  honor  is  the  same,  and  arose 
out  of  the  same  transaction.  Taking  away  the  rudder 
from  an  English  frigate  was  a  national  insult,  but 
instead  of  demanding  reparation  of  the  king  of  Spain, 
the  king  of  England  would  satisfy  his  honor  by  attack- 
ing a  king's  servant,  which  furnishes  the  materials  for 
the  censure  of  Junius,  and  Admiral  Saunders  would  be 
satisfied  to  see  the  city  of  Madrid  laid  in  ashes,  which 
furnishes  the  just  ground  for  the  aspersions  of  Mr.  Paine; 
and  from  thence  they  define  national  lionor  to  l)e  that 
deportment  wliich  is  best  suited  to  an  individual.  They 
both  state  the  case,  and  then  define;  the  methotl  and 
figures  are  the  same.  But  there  is  another  parallel  in 
these  two  pieces,  and  in  the  same  connection.  Mr. 
Paine  and  Junius  both   use  very   harsh  language  in 


STYLE.  117 

commenting  on  the  facts  in  the  case,  and  when  they 
close  their  censure  they  say : 

Paine,  Junius. 

"  This,     perhaps,     may       "  These  are  strong  terms, 

sound  harsh  and  uncourtly,  sir,  but  they  are  supported 

but  it  is  too  true,  and  the  by  fact  and  argument." 
more  is  the  pity." 

This  apology  taken  in  the  same  connection,  shows 
the  same  mind,  for  it  is  a  law  of  nature,  whether  ex- 
hibited in  mind  or  matter,  that  when  given  the  same 
conditions  the  same  results  follow.  Now  if  Thomas 
Paine  be  not  Junius,  then  would  no  such  parallels  be 
found ;  for,  as  before  remarked,  literary  theft  is  impossi- 
ble, inasmuch  as  conditions  can  not  be  stolen,  and  more 
especially  the  most  important  condition  in  the  above 
case,  mental  constitution.  In  other  words  the  case  is 
stated  by  the  same  person^  in  the  same  style,  but  not  in 
the  same  language 

Paine.  Junius. 

''This  plain  language  "These  sentiments,  sir, 
may,  perhaps,  sound  un-  and  the  style  they  are  con- 
courtly  to  an  ear  vitiated  veyed  in,  may  be  offensive 
by  courtly  refinements,  but  perhaps,  because  they  are 
words  were  made  for  use,' new  to  you.  Accustomed 
and  the  fault  lies  in  deserv-  to  the  language  of  courtiers, 
ing  them,  or  the  abuse  in  you  measure  their  affections 
applying  them  ui^fairb^  "  by  the  vehemence  of  their 
— Crisis,  ii.  expressions;  and  when  they 

only  praise  you  indifferently 
you  admire  their  sincerity." 
—Let.  35. 


118 


JUNIUS  UNMASKED. 


Paine, 
"  Like  a  stream  of  water." 
'•  Slave  in  buff." 

"  My  creed  in  politics." 

"  Expressed  myself  over- 
warm  ly." 

'*By  following  the  pas- 
sion and  stupidity  of  the 
pilot  you  wrecked  the  ves- 
sel within  sight  of  the 
shore."  Applied  to  Eng- 
land. 

"It  needs  no  painting 
of  mine  to  set  it  off,  for  na- 
ture can  only  do  it  justice." 

"  She  [England]  set  out 
with  the  title  of  parent  or 
mother  country.  The  as- 
sociation of  ideas  which 
naturally  accompany  this 
expression  are  filled  with 
every  thing  that  is  fond, 
tender,  and  forbearing. 
They  have  an  energy  pe- 
culiar to  themselves,  and 
overlooking  the  accidental 
attachment  of  natural  af- 
fection apply  with  infinite 
sqftm'HS  to  the  first  feelings 
of  the  heart." 


"That  men  never  turn 
rogues     without     turning 


Junius, 
"Like  a  rapid  torrent." 
"  Cream-colored      para- 
site." 

"  Political  creed  we  pro- 


"  Passionate  language." 

"  In  the  shipwreck  of  the 
state,  trifles  float  and  are 
preserved,  while  every 
thing  solid  and  valuable 
sinks  to  the  bottom  and  is 
lost  forever." 

"  The  works  of  a  master 
require  no  index ;  his  fea- 
tures and  coloring  are  taken 
from  nature." 

"With  all  his  mother's 
softness,^^ 

[Mr.  Paine  argued 
against  this  title  of 
"  mother  country  "  being 
applied  to  England.  And 
what  is  remarkable,  Junius 
was  never  betrayed  into  it, 
even  with  all  his  prejudice 
in  favor  of  the  English  na- 
tion hanging  about  him. 
In  Letter  1,  he  speaks  of 
P^ngland  as  liaving  "  alien- 
ated the  colonies  from  their 
natural  affection  to  their 
common  country,"  and  in 
no  place  says  parent  or 
mother  country.  This  fact 
is  a  striking  }>arallel.] 

"  There  is  a  proverb  con- 
cerning ixji-sons  in  the  pre- 


STYLE,  119 

fools,  is  a  maxim  sooner  or  dicament  of  this  gentleman, 
later  universally  true." —  *  They  commence  dupes,  and 
Crisis,  iii.  finish  knaves.'  " — Let.  49. 

'^  The  corrupt  and  aban-       ''  Corruption   glitters  in 
doned  court  of  Britain."       the  van,  collects  and  main- 
tains a  standing  army  of 
mercenaries." 
"  Trembling  duplicity  of       "  In  that  state  of  aban- 
a  spaniel."  ^  doned  servility  and  prosti- 

tution."  .    .   .   "The  min- 
istry,  abandoned    as   they 
are." 
"  Agony  of  a   wounded       "  When  the  mind  is  tor- 
mind."  tured." 

"Compound  of  reasons."  "Compound  his  ideas." 
"  Nothing  but  the  sharp-  "  He  was  forced  to  go 
est  essence  of  villainy  com-  through  every  division,  re- 
pounded  with  the  strongest  solution,  composition,  and 
distillation  of  folly,  could  refinement  of  political 
have  produced  a  menstruum  chemistry  before  he  hap- 
that  would  have  effected  a  pily  arrived  at  the  caput 
separation." — Crisis,  iii.        mortuum  of  vitriol  in  your 

grace.  Flat  and  insipid  in 
your  retired  state ;  but 
brought  into  action  you  be- 
come vitriol  again." — Let. 
15. 

In  the  above  Mr.  Paine  applies  this  figure  of  polit- 
ical chemistry  to  the  causes  which  led  to  the  separation 
of  the  colonies  from  England.  Junius  is  speaking  to 
the  Duke  of  Grafton.  ^^Memtruum^'  and  ^^  Caput  mor- 
tuum/^  are  old  chemical  terms.  The  former  means  that 
which  will  dissolve,  and  the  latter  the  worthless  matter 
which  is  left.  They  are  both  figures  of  analysis,  and 
show  the  writer  to  have  given  his  attention  to  chemis- 
try.    Mr.  Paine,  it  is  well  known,  in  1775,  shortly  after 


120  JUNIUS  UNMASKED. 

arriving  in  America,  "set  his  talents  to  work^'  to  make 
saltpeter  by  some  cheap  and  expeditious  method,  and 
formed  an  association  to  supply  gratuitously  the  na- 
tional magazines  with  powder.  This  fact  also  shows 
that  Mr.  Paine  came  to  America  to  fight  England  [  for 
it  was  before  he  had  written  his  Common  Sense.  His 
object  was,  to  be  prepared;  his  method  was,  first  the 
powder  and  then  the  Declaration  of  Independence, 
which  last  was  produced  by  the  pamphlet  Common 
Sense. 

Paine,  Junius, 

"It  renders  man  dimin-       "Women,  and  men  like 
utive    in    things    that    are  women,  are   timid,  vindic- 
great,  and  the  counterfeit  of  tive,  and  irresolute/' — Let. 
woman  in   things  that  are  41. 
small." — Rights    of   Man, 
part  i. 

"  Fact  is  superior  to  rea-  "  The  plain  evidence  of 
soning." — Rights  of  Man,  facts  is  superior  to  all  dec- 
part  ii.,  chap.  i.  larations." — Let.  5. 

"  You  sunk  yourself  be-       "  You  are  degraded  be- 
low the  character  of  a  pri-  low  the  condition  of  a  man." 
vate    gentleman." — Crisis,  — Let.  34. 
ii. 

"  Now  if  I  have  any  con-       "  I  thought,  however,  he 
ception  of  the  human  heart,  had  been  better  read  in  the 
tlioy  will  fail  in  this  more  history  of  the  AumanAmr^." 
than  in  any  thing  they  liave  — Let.  27. 
yet  tried." — Crisis,  iii. 

Mr.  Paine  and  Junius  both  reasoned,  and  this  very 
oflen,  from  the  nature  of  man,  and  especially  his  pas- 
sions.    The  following  are  parallels : 


STYLE.  121 

Paine.  Junius. 

'' Spirit  of  prophecy."  ^^  Spirit  of  prophecy." 

''  Man  of  spirit."  "  Man  of  spirit." 

"Air  of."  "Air  of." 

"Strokes  of."  "Strokes  of." 

"  Give  color  to."  "  Give  color  to." 

"  Tranquillity  of."  "  Tranquillity  of." 

"  Narrow  views."  "  Narrow  views." 

"  But  the  great  hinge  on       "  This  is  not  the  hinge  on 
which   the  whole   machine  which  the  debate  turns." — 
turned,  is  the  union  of  the  Let.  16. 
States.^' — Crisis,  xv.,  note. 

"  Each  individual  feels  "  I  consider  nothing  but 
his  share  of  the  wound  the  wound  which  has  been 
given  to  the  whole."-^  given  to  the  law." — Let.  30. 
Crisis,  xii. 

"Thorn  in  the  flesh."  "Thorn    in    the    king's 

side." 
"  As  the  future  ability  of      "  The  features  of  the  in- 
a  giant  over  a  dwarf  is  de-  fant  are  a  proof  of  the  de- 
lineated in  his  features  while  scent." — Let.  58. 
an  infant." — Crisis,  xi. 

"  But  from  such  opposi-  "  Hardly  serious  at  first, 
tion,  the  French  revolu-  he  is  now  an  enthusiast, 
tion,  instead  of  suflPering,  The  coldest  bodies  warm 
receives  homage.  The  more  with  opposition,  the  hardest 
it  is  struck,  the  more  sparks  sparkle  in  collision." — Let. 
it  will  emit."— Rights  of  35. 
Man,  part  i. 

"  I3e  pities  the  plumage,  "The  feather  which  adorns 
but  forgets  the  dying  bird."  the  royal  bird  suj^ports  his 
— Do.  flight.      Strip    him  of  his 

plumage,  and  you  fix  him 
to  earth."— Let.  42. 
"  The  ripeness  of  the  con-      "  When  you  are  ripe,  you 
tinent  for  independence."       shall    be    plucked." — Let. 


122  JUNIUS  UNMASKED. 

.  "Had  you  studied  true  ''But  neither  should  I 
greatness  of  heart,  the  first  think  the  most  exalted  fac- 
and  fairest  ornament  of  ulties  of  the  human  mind 
mankind.'' — Crisis,  vii.  a  gift  worthy  of  the  Divin- 

ity, nor  any  assistance  in 
[This  shows  a  parallel  the  improvement  of  them  a 
also  in  the  estimation  they  subject  of  gratitude  to  my 
place  upon  the  human  fac-  fellow-creatures,  if  I  were 
ulties,  which  is  worth  more  not  satisfied  that  really  to 
in  argument  than  any  par-  inform  the  understanding, 
allel  of  figure  or  expres-  corrects  and  enlarges  the 
sion.]  heart/^ — Last  sentence  of 

Junius. 
*'  Wounded  herself  to  the       '^  Stab  you  to  the  heart." 
heart." 
"  Unite  in  despising  you."       "  United  detestation." 
"  We  are  not  moved  by       "  How   far  you  are  au- 
thegloom^sr/wYeof  a  worth-  thorized  to  rely  upon   the 
less  king." — Crisis,  iv.  sincerity    of    those    smiles 

>  which   a  jnous   court   lav- 

ishes    without     reluctance 
upon   a   libertine    by  pro- 
fession," etc. — Let.  15. 
"That   which,   to   some       "  We  owe  it  to  the  boun- 
persons,  appeared   modera-  ty  of  Providence  that  the 
lion  in  you  at  first,  was  not  completcst  depravity  of  the 
produced  by  any  real  virtue  heart  is  sometimes  strangely 
of  your  own,  but  by  a  con-  united  with  a  confusion  of 
trast  of  passions,  dividing  the   mind,  which    counter- 
and  holding  you  in  ])erpct-  acts  the  most  favorite  prin- 
ual  irresolution.     One  vice  ciples,  and  makes  the  same 
will    frequently  expel    an-  man    treacherous    without 
other,    without    the     least  art,  and  a  hypocrite  with- 
mcrit  in  the  man,  as  powers  out  deceiving." — Let.  15. 
in   contrary  directions   re- 
duce each  other  to  rest." — 
Crisis,  V. 


STYLE.  123 

The  last  parallel  above  will  bear  a  moment's  thought 
and  study.  Paine  says :  "  Without  the  least  merit  in 
the  man/'  Junius  says ;  "  We  owe  it  to  the  bounty 
of  Providence."  They  were  both  deeply  read  in  the 
history  of  the  human  heart.  The  following  is  of  the 
same  nature,  showing  the  same  mental  philosophy : 

Paine,  Junius. 

"  Men  whose  political  "  In  public  affairs  there 
principles  are  founded  on  is  the  least  chance  of  a 
avarice  are  beyond  the  perfect  concurrence  of  sen- 
reach  of  reason,  and  the  timent  or  inclination.  If 
only  cure  of  toryism  of  individuals  have  no  vir- 
this  cast  is  to  tax  it.  A  tues,  their  vices  may  be  of 
substantial  good  drawn  use  to  us.  I  care  not  with 
from  a  real  evil,  is  of  the  what  principle  the  new- 
same  benefit  to  society  as  born  patriot  is  animated 
if  drawn  from  a  virtue;  if  the  measures  he  sup- 
and  when  men  have  not  ports  are  beneficial  to  the 
public  spirit  to  render  community.  The  nation 
themselves  serviceable,  it  is  interested  in  his  con- 
ought  to  be  the  study  of  duct,  the  motiv^es  are  his 
government  to  draw  the  own.'' — Let.  58. 
best  possible  use  from  "  I  am  not  so  unjust  as 
their  vices.  When  the  to  reason  from  one  crime 
governing  passion  of  any  to  another;  though  I 
man  or  set  of  men  is  once  think  that,  of  all  vices, 
known,  the  method  .  of  avarice  is  most  apt  to 
managing  them  is  easy;  taint  and  corrupt  the 
for  even  raisers,  whom  no  heart." — Let.  27. 
public  virtue  can  impress, 
would  become  generous 
could  a  heavy  tax  be  laid 
upon  covetousness." 

"  Charity  with  them  be-  "  His   charity    has    ira- 

gins  and  ends  at  home." —  proved  upon  the  proverb, 


124  JUNIUS  UNMASKED. 

Exam,  of  Prophecies,  Ap-  and    ended    where    it    be- 
pendix.  gan/^ — Let.  27. 

"  Gut  a  verse."  "  Gut  a  resolution.'* 


The  above  are  a  few  of  the  similar  figures  which 
have  come  under  my  eye.  The  careful  reader  will, 
doubtless,  find  many  more,  as  I  have  given  my 
attention  to  a  multiplicity  of  subjects  in  this  investi- 
gation, and  many  parallels  would  thus  escape  me. 
But  I  have  given  more  than  sixty,  Avhich  ought  to 
arrest  the  attention  of  any  thinking  man.  Together 
with  the  above  may  be  taken  parallel  phrases  fre- 
quenily  used  by  both;  for  example:  "I  affirm,'* 
"Excess  of  folly,"  "In  point  of,"  "Give  the  lie  to," 
"  For  several  reasons,"  "  Branded  with,"  "  It  signi- 
fies not,"  "  Circumstanced,"  "  For  my  own  part," 
"  In  short,"  "  Forever,"  "  Common  cause." 

I  now  pass  on  to  those  figures  of  speech  which 
come  in  the  form  of  argumentation,  as  antithesis  and 
interrogation.  ♦ 

Antithesis  is  a  species  of  word  painting.  It  is  to 
an  argument  what  liglit  and  shade  are  to  a  painting. 
There  can,  therefore,  be  no  argument  without  an- 
tithesis in  some  form.  It  may  be  definetl,  contrast- 
ing or  placing  in  opposition  opinions,  sentiments, 
and  ideas.     The  following  are  examples : 

Paine,  Junitis, 

"At  home  and  abroad."       "At  home  and  abroad." 

"A  government  of  our      "If  we  see  them  obcdi- 

own  is  our  natural  right;  ent   to  the  laws,  prosper- 


'  STYLE.  125 

and  wlieiKa  man  seriously  ous     in      their     industry, 

reflects  on  the  precarious-  united    at    home    and    re- 

ness  of  human  affairs,  he  spected    abroad,    we    may 

will  become  convinced  that  reasonably    presume    that 

it   is   infinitely  wiser  and  their  affairs  are  conducted 

safer  to   form  a   constitu-  by     men     of    experience, 

tion  of  our  own  in  a  cool,  abilities,   and   virtue.     7/*, 

deliberate    manner,    while  on  the  contrary,  we  see  an 

we  have  it  in  our  power,  universal  spirit  of  distrust 

than  to  trust  such  an  in-  and  dissatisfaction,  a  rapid 

teresting  event  to  time  and  decay  of  trade,  dissensions 

chance.    If  toe  omit  it  now,  in  all  parts  of  the  empire, 

some  Massanello  may  here-  a  total   loss  of  respect  in 

after     arise,    who,     laying  the  eyes  of  foreign  powers, 

hold   of    popular   disquie-  we  may  pronounce,  with- 

tudes,  may  collect  together  out    hesitation,    that    the 

the  desperate  and  discon-  government  of  that  coun- 

tented,  and,  by  assuming  try    is    weak,    distracted, 

to  themselves  the  powers  and   corrupt/^ — Let.   1. 
of      government,     finally 
sweep    away    the   liberties 
of  the  continent  like  a  del- 
uge.^^— C.  S. 

As  would  naturally  be  expected  from  what  has  al- 
ready been  brought  forward,  in  regard  to  the  ;nental 
constitution  of  Mr.  Paine,  he  abounds  in  this  figure  and 
style  of  argumentation;  and  it  is  the  same  with  Junius. 
Sentence  after  sentence,  and  period  after  period,  are  in 
antithesis.  The  expressions,  "  On  the  one  hand,  and  on 
the  other,^^  "  At  home  and  abroad,"  "  On  this  side,  and 
on  that,"  are  the  constant  companions  of  both.  Hence 
the  method,  also,  in  both,  of  bringing  forward  contra- 
dictions in  the  conduct  and  character  of  individuals,  or 
in  any  proposition  they  are  attacking.  This  is  the  lan- 
guage, also,  of  ridicule;  the  contradiction  makes  it  ab- 


126  JUNIUS  UNMASKED, 

surd,  the  incongruity  ridiculous.  Antithesis  is,  there- 
fore, an  argumentative  figure  of  speech,  in  which  con- 
trast or  comparison  is  made  to  present  an  image  of 
things  or  principles  to  the  mind.  It  is  to  rhetoric  what 
light  and  shade  are  to  painting.  In  no  other  way  can 
a  writer  paint  a  picture.  Hence,  when  Mr.  Paine  says, 
*'  Were  I  disposed  to  paint  a  contrast,"  and  when  Jun- 
ius says,  "  Imagine  what  you  might  be,  and  then  reflect 
upon  what  you  are,"  they  reveal  the  gift  of  that  tre- 
mendous power  they  exhibit  in  their  productions. 

It  is  from  this  constitutional  arrangement  of  the  mind 
which  makes  a  man  a  good  mathematician.  '  For,  if  one 
will. trace  a  mathematical  process  of  reasoning,  he  will 
find  it  to  be  a  system  of  comparisons  or  antitheses — and 
nothing  else — having  foundation  primarily  in  equality. 
The  idea  of  equality  is  the  origin  of  mathematics.  It 
was,  therefore,  a  mathematician  who  wrote  Junius.  We 
can  not  go  wrong  in  this  conclusion,  for  we  reason  from 
first  principles,  and  we  would  expect  to  find  his  style 
and  language  assuming  mathematical  preciseuess,  and 
only  equaled  by  Mr.  Paine  in  argumentation. 

From  what  has  already  been  said,  we  would  expect 
to  find  the  frequent  use  of  the  dlleinvia,  and  the  reductio 
ad  abstcrdum — or,  that  the  contrary  of  what  is  true 
leads  to  the  absurd. 

Paine,  Junius, 

"  There  is  something  ex-  "  The  right  of  election  u 
ceedingly  ridiculous  in  the  the  very  essence  of  the  con- 
composition  of  monarchy;  stitution.  To  violate  that 
it  first  excludes  a  man  from  right,  and,  much  more,  to 


STYLE.  127 

the  means  of  information,  transfer  it  to  any  other  set 
yet  empowers  him  to  act  in  of  men,  is  a  step  leading 
cases  where  the  highest  immediately  to  the  dissolu- 
judgment  is  required.  The  tion  of  all  government.  So 
state  of  a  king  shuts  him  far  forth  as  it  operates,  it 
from  the  world,  yet  the  constitutes  a  House  of 
business  of  a  king  requires  Commons  which  does  not 
him  to  know  it  thoroughly;  represent  the  people.  A 
wherefore,  the  diiferent  House  of  Commons  so 
parts,  by  unnaturally  op-  formed  would  involve  a 
posing  and  destroying  each  contradiction,  and  the 
other,  prove  the  whole  greatest  confusion  of  ideas  ; 
character  to  be  absurd  and  but  there  are  some  minis- 
ridiculous.''  ters,  my  lord,  whose  views 

can  only  be  answered  by 
reconciling  absurdities,  and 
making  the  same  proposi- 
tion which  is  false  and  ab- 
surd in  argument  true  in 
fact.''~Let.  11. 


I  give  the  following  dilemmas : 

Paine.  Junius, 

"  If  you  make  the  neces-  "  This  confession  reduces 
sary  demand  at  home,  your  you  to  an  unfortunate  di- 
party  sinks ;  if  you  make  lemma.  By  renewing  your 
it  not,  you  sink  yourself;  solicitations,  you  must  ei- 
to  ask  it  now  is  too  late,  ther  mean  to  force  your 
and  to  ask  it  before  was  country  into  a  war  at  a 
too  soon  ;  and,  unless  it  ar-  most  unseasonable  juncture, 
rive  quickly,  will  be  of  no  or,  having  no  view  or  ex- 
use.  In  short,  the  part  you  pectation  of  that  kind,  that 
have  to  act  can  not  be  act-  you  look  for  nothing  but  a 
ed.'' — Crisis,  ii.  private     compensation     to 

yourself."— Let.  25. 


128  JUNIUS  UNMASKED. 

But  these  methods  of  argumentation  are  only  a  species 
of  antithesis,  and  may  all  be  reduced  to  the  one  funda- 
mental form  of  comparison.  This  may  renjind  us  of 
the  fact  that  all  improvement  arises  fi-om  comparison, 
whether  in  language,  government,  or  personal  exper- 
iencci 

I  have  one  marked  feature  of  argumentative  figure 
to  point  out,  and  this  is,  interrogation.  This  is  insinu- 
ation without  direct  attack,  a  sort  of  flank  movement, 
when  charges  are  made  that  can  not  be  })roven,  or  when 
too  evident  to  need  proof.  This  style  is  also  not  only 
common  to  both  Mr.  Paine  and  Junius,  but  so  promi- 
nent that  it  attracts  attention  at  once. 

It  is  frequently  the  case  with  Mr.  Paine  and  Junius 
that  ^^  language  fails  J  ^  that  is,  it  is  poured  forth  in  such 
torrents  of  abuse  that  the  reader  is  made  painfully  aware 
of  it,  and  to  recapture  the  mind  of  the  reader,  they  art- 
fully charge  it  to  the  impossibility  of  doing  justice  to 
so  bad  a  subject.     For  example : 

Paine,  Junius. 

"There   are    cases   that  "  But  this  language  is  too 

can    not   be   overdone    by  mild  for  the  occasion.    The 

language,  and  this  is  one.  king  is  determined  that  our 

— Crisis,  i.  abilities  shall  not  be  lo6t  to 

society." — Lot.  48. 

"There    is    not    in    the  "Our  languMgo  has    no 

com])ass  of  language  a  suf-  terms  ofropnuch,  the  mind 

ficioncy  of  words  to  express  has  no  idea  of  detestation, 

the  baseness  of  your  king,  which  hns  not  already  been 

his  ministry,  and  his  army,  happily  applied  to  you  and 

They    have    refined    upon  exhausted.     Ample  justice 


STYLE.  129 

villainy    till    it    wants    a  has   been   done,    by    abler 
name.     To  the  fiercer  vices  pens  than  mine,  to  the  sep- 
of  former  ages  they  have  arate   merits    of  your   life 
added  the  dregs  and  scum-  and  character.     Let  it  be 
mings  of  the  most  finished  my  humble  office  to  collect 
rascality,  and  are  so  com-  the    scattered    sweets    till 
pletely  sunk  in  serpentine  their  united  "virtue  tortures 
deceit  that  there  is  not  left  the  sense." — Let.  41. 
among  them  one  generous  "  In  what  language  shall 
enemy." — Crisis,  v.  I  address  so  black,  so  cow- 
"  We  sometimes  experi-  ardly     a     tyrant.      Thou 
ence    sensations    to    which  worse    tlian     one    of    the 
language  is  not  equal.    The  Brunswicks    and    all    the 
conception  is  too  bulky  to  Stuarts." — Let.  56. 
be  born  alive,  and  in  the  "  The  king  has  been  ad- 
torture    of    thinking     we  vised  to  make  a  public  sur- 
stand    dumb.      Our    feel-  render,  a  solemn  sacrifice  in 
ings   imprisoned   by   their  the  face  of  all  Europe,  not 
magnitude,    find    no    way  only  of  the  interest  of  his 
out,  and  in  the  struggle  of  subjects,  but  of  his  own  per- 
expression  every  finger  tries  sonal  reputation,  and  of  the 
to  be  a  tongue.     The  ma-  dignity  of  that  crown  which 
chinery  of  the  body  seems  his  predecessors  have  worn 
too  little  for  the  mind,  and  with    honor.      These    are 
we  look  about  us  for  help  strong  terms,  sir,  but  they 
to  show  our  thoughts  by.  are  supported  by  fact  and 
Such  must  be  the  sensation  argument." — Let.  42. 
of  America  whenever  Bri- 
tain teeming  with  corrup- 
tion shall  propose  to  her  to 
sacrifice  her  faith." — Crisis, 
xii. 

In  the  last  parallel  above,   it  will  be  noticed,  the 
strong  terms  were  called  forth  by  a  sacrifice  of  national 

honor  with  Great  Britain,  and  a  prospect  of  it  in  the 
United  States.     I  call  attention  to  this  in  this  place  to 


130  JUNIUS  UNMASKED. 

save  repetition  of  proofs,  showing  that  proud  spirit  of 
personal  honor  so  prominent  in  Paine  and  Junius,  and 
from  which  they  both  say :  national  honor  is  governed 
by  the  same  rules  as  personal  honor.  I  now  pass  to 
notice  the  most  prominent  mental  characteristics. 


MENTAL  CHARACTERISTICS. 

If  the  reader  will  carry  forward  in  his  mind  what  I 
have  ah^eady  said  on  style  and  the  object  for  which  Mr. 
Paine  and  Junius  wrote,  it  will  greatly  aid  me  in  re- 
ducing the  size  of  this  book.  I  shall  act  on  the  prin- 
ciple of  this  suggestion,  and  while  I  give  new  matter 
upon  new  subjects,  the  reader  will  find  the  parallels 
greatly  strengthened  by  what  has  already  been  said. 
The  reader  will  also  apply  the  facts  already  brought  for- 
ward to  the  passages  I  shall  hereafter  present,  so  that, 
like  a  two-edged  sword,  it  may  be  made  to  cut  both 
ways.     And  first  of  avarice  and  the  miser  : 

Faine.  Junius. 

''  Could  I  find  a  miser  "  Of  all  the  vices  avarice 
whose  heart  never  felt  the  is  most  apt  to  taint  and  cor- 
emotion  of  a  spark  of  prin-  rupt  the  heart." — Let.  27. 
ciple,  even  that  man,  unin-  "As  for  the  common  sor-' 
fluenced  by  every  love  but  did  views  of  avarice,"  etc. — 
the  love  of  money,  and  ca-  Let.  53. 
pable  of  no  attachment  but  "  The  miser  himself  sel- 
to  his  interest,  would  and  dom  livestoenjoy  the  fruits 
must,  from  the  frugality  of  his  extortion^ — Let.  20, 
which    governs   him,   con-  note. 

tribute  to  the  defense  of  the  '^  I  could  never  have  a 
country,  or  he  ceases  to  be  doubt  in  law  or  reason  that 
a  miser  and  becomes  an  a  man  convicted  of  a  high 
idiot.  breach  of  trust  and  of  a  no- 

9  (131) 


132  .    JUNIUS  UNMASKED. 

"  Every  passion  that  acts  torious   corruption    in    the 
upon  mankind    has  a  pe-  execution  of  a  public  office, 
culiar   mode  of  operation,  was  and  ought  to  be  inca- 
Many  of  them  are  tempo-  pable  of  sitting  in  the  same 
rary  and  fluctuating;   they  parliament/^ — Let.  20. 
admit  of  cessation  and  va- 
riety.    But    avarice    is    a 
fixed,  uniform  passion.     It 
neither  abates  of  its  vigor 
nor  changes  its  object." — 
Crisis,  X. 

I  call  attention  to  that  pride  of  character  and  per- 
sonal honor,  so  conspicuous  in  both  Paine  and  Jun^is: 

Paine,  Junius, 

"  A  man  who  has  no  sense  "  Honor  and  honesty 
of  honor,  has  no  sense  of  must  not  be  renounced,  al- 
shamc." — Let.toCheetham.  though  a  thousand  modes," 

*' Knowing  my  own  heart,  etc. — Let.  58. 
and  feeling  myself,  as  I  now  "Junius  will  never  de- 
do,  superior  to  all  the  skir-  scend  to  dispute  with  such 
mish  of  party,  the  inveter-  a  writer  as  Modest  us." — 
acy  of  interested,  or  mis-  Let.  29. 
taken  opponents,  I  answer  "  For  my  own  part,  my 
not  to  falsehood  or  abuse."  lord,  I  am  proud  to  affirm, 
— R.  M.,  part  ii.  that  if  I  had    been    weak 

"  Fortified     with     that  enough    to    form    such    a 
proud    integrity,  that  dis-  friendship,  I  would   never 
dain  to  triumph  or  to  yield,  have  been  base  enough  to 
I  will  advocate  the  rights  betray  it." — Let.  9.  • 
of  man." — Do. 

A  thousand  passages  might  be  selected  from  both  to 
show  this  ruling  trait  of  character.  The  proud,  im- 
posing spirit  that  would  dare  to  undertake  the  business 
of  a  world  for  the  good  of  mankind,  and  to  tread  on 
the  pride  of  courtiers,  and  to  tell  the  king,  who  ruled 


MENTAL   CHARACTERISTICS.  133 

over  the  greatest  nation  on  earth,  that  nature  had  only 
intended  him  for  a  good-humored  fool,  is  pre-eminently 
the  leading  trait  in  Junius  and  Paine.  No  one  can 
mistake  it ;  no  one  can  fail  in  finding  it ;  no  one  can 
help  feeling  the  force  of  it.  It  has  never  been  pro- 
duced in  any  other  man.  The  world's  history  has 
given  us  but  the  one  example  of  it.  We  search  in 
vain  for  another  parallel.  And  if  Mr.  Paine  did  not 
write  Junius,  nature  produced  twins  of  the  same  men- 
tal type  to  do  the  same  work  for  mankind,  and  then 
defeated  all  her  arts  and  gave  the  lie  to  all  her  laws,  by 
exhibiting  the  one  and  forever  concealing  the  other. 
But  surely  nature  can  conceal  nothing.  Her  method 
is  to  reveal,  not  to  conceal.  She  writes  the  character 
of  man  on  all  he  touches,  and  reveals  it  in  the  very 
language  he  would  employ  to  conceal  it. 

It  was  this  proud  spirit  which  gave  Paine  that  con- 
tempt for  monarchy  which  he  so  often  expressed.  "I 
have  an  aversion  to  monarchy,''  he  says,  "  as  being  too 
debasing  to  the  dignity  of  man."  This  is  a  language 
which  courtiers  could  not  understand,  and  they  would 
consider  it  the  vain  babbling  of  a  mad-man ;  but  it  is 
the  very  basis  of  that  government  which  he  labored  to 
establish  in  America  and  France.  This  is  also  the 
spirit  of  Junius  when  he  says  with  such  withering 
sarcasm  :  ''  It  may  be  matter  of  curious  speculation 
to  consider,  if  an  honest  man  were  permitted  to 
approach  a  king,  in  what  terms  he  would  address  him- 
self to  his  sovereign."  And  after  having  gained  the  ear 
of  the  king,  when  he  sa'ys:  ^'Let  it  be  imagined,  no 
matter  how  improbable,  that  he  has  spirit  enough  to 
bid   him  speak  freely  and   understanding    enough  to 


134  JUNIUS  UNMASKED. 

listen  to  him  with  attention.  Unacquainted  with  the 
vain  impertinence  of  forms,  he  would  deliver  his  senti- 
ments with  dignity  and  firmness/'  Here  Junius,  also, 
fortified  with  that  proud  integrity  of  character  which  he 
held  in  common  with  all  who  would  not  be  enslaved, 
and  which  he  possessed  as  the  birthright  of  man,  was 
free  to  place  the  dignity  of  an  honest  man  in  antithesis 
to  a  weak  understanding  in  a  king  only  supported  by 
the  vain  impertinence  of  forms.  Paine  was  too  proud  to 
be  vain ;  his  pride  came  up  from  nature ;  it  was  the 
pride  of  human  worth,  and  opposed  to  that  vanity  of 
art  which  always  makes  pretentions  to  more  worlh^than 
nature  has  conferred.  Nature  gives  us  pride,  art  makes 
us  vain.  It  was  this  pride,  in  opposition  to  vanity, 
which  Junius  expressed  in  his  great  battle  against  the 
usurpations  of  government,  when  he  says:  "Both 
liberty  and  property  are  precarious  unless  the  jwssessors 
have  sense  and  spirit  enough  to  defend  them.  This  is 
not  the  language  of  vanity.  If  I  am  a  vain  man  my 
gratification  lies  within  a  narrow  circle."  That  is,  "  to 
write  for  fame  and  be  unknown.'* 

From  this  pride  of  character,  so  strong  and  peculiar, 
we  may  draw  no  weak  conclusion  in  regard  to  the 
authorship  of  Junius,  for  the  parallel  is  perfect,  and 
the  age  in  which  he  wrote  gave  us  nothing  like  it  in 
any  t)ne  but  Paine.  This  characteristic  gives  tone  to 
the  whole  mind,  and  a  shade  of  coloring  to  every  faculty. 
It  reflects  itself  upon  the  people,  and  draws  therefrom  the 
conclusion  that  they  have  more  "sense  and  spirit" 
than  they  really  possess.  It  gives  a  double  coloring  to 
hoj)e,  ])aints  two  bows  instead  of  one,  and  reduces  the 
time  for  the  establishment  of  right.     It  thus  produces 


MENTAL  CIIAJRAOTEBISTICS.  135 

more  faith  in  the  people  than  facts  will  sustain.     For 
example : 

Paine.  Junius. 

"  The  fraud,  hypocrisy,  ^'  I  believe  there  is  yet  a 
and  imposition  of  govern-  spirit  of  resistance  in  this 
ments  are  now  beginning  country,  which  will  not 
to  be  too  well  understood  submit  to  be  oppressed  ; 
to  promise  them  any  longer  but  I  am  sure  there  is  a 
career.  The  farce  of  mon-  fund  of  good  sense  in  this 
archy  and  aristocracy  in  country  which  can  not  be 
all  countries,  is  following  deceived.'^ — Let.  16. 
that  of  chivalry,  and  Mr.  "  Although  the  king 
Burke  is  dressing  for  the  should  continue  to  support 
funeral."  his  present  system  of  gov- 

"  The  time  is  not  very  ernment,  the  period  is  not 
distant  when  England  will  very  distant,  at  which  you 
laugh  at  itself  for  sending  will  have  the  means  of 
abroad  for  a  king."  &c.         redress  in  your  own  power ; 

"  Within  the  space  of  a  it  may   be  nearer,  perhaps, 
few  years  we  have  seen  two  than  any  of  us  expect, 
revolutions,  those  of  Amer-       *'  You  are  roused  at  last 
ica  and  France.      .      .       .  to  a  sense  of  your  danger : 
From  both  these  instances  the  remedy  will  soon  be  in 
it  is  evident  that  the  great-  your  power." — Ded. 
est    forces     that     can    be 
brought  into   the  field  of 
revolutions,  are  reason  and 
common  interest.     ... 

We  may  hereafter  hope  to  see  revolutions  or  changes 
in  government,  produced  by  the  same  quiet  operation, 
by  which  any  measure  determinable  by  reason  and 
discussion,  is  accomplished." — R.  of  M.  Part  ii. 

"I  do  not  believe  that  monarchy  and  aristocracy 
will  continue  seven  years  longer  in  any  of  the  enlight- 
ened countries  of  Europe." — R.  of  M.  Part  ii.  Pref. 


136  JUNIUS  UNMASKED. 

But  Paine  and  Junius  were  both  mistaken.  Reason 
will,  perhaps,  forever  fail  to  produce  a  revolution  with- 
out bloodshed.  Reason  only  prepares  for  war,  and 
when  time  has  slowly  accomplished  the  work  of  reason 
in  any  reform,  it  terminates  that  work  in  convulsions 
of  war.  The  political  corruptions,  also,  which  Junius 
was  so  hopeful  would  soon  be  resisted  by  the  English 
people,  still  exist,  and  the  reforms  he  advocated,  al- 
though partly  accomplished,  fail  to  produce  any  better 
result.  The  reason  is,  the  people  never  resist  tyranny 
till  scourged  into  it,  from  self-interest;  and,  besides, 
they  must  worship  a  tyrant  of  some  political  form, 
bending  the  knee  to  king  or  party,  and  baring  the  back 
to  the  lash.  A  leader  the  people  must  have,  under 
whose  banner  they  can  rally,  and  which  they  consider 
it  treason  to  desert,  and  whether  they  vote  for  a  president 
or  bow  to  a  king,  is  all  the  same.  The  political  prayer 
of  royalty  or  republicanism,  if  not  in  the  same  words, 
expresses  the  same  fact.  The  one  is, "  Oh,  Lord !  to  the 
king  I  bow,  thou  knowcst  he  can  do  no  wrong."  The 
other  is,  "  Oh,  Lord !  to  the  party  I  bow,  thou  knowest 
I  never  scratched  a  ticket." 

Although  Paine  and  Junius  were  thoroughly  read  in 
the  history  of  the  human  heart,  they  failed  to  place 
a  proper  estimate  on  the  character  of  mankind.  They 
failed  because  they  reasoned  from  their  own  pride  of 
character,  their  own  feelings,  hopes,  and  desires,  and 
these  far  exceeded  the  mass  of  mankiudi. 

They  were  both  too  proud  to  flatter. 

Paine,  Jumu%, 

"  As  it  is  not  my  cus-       "  I  am  not  conversant  m 


MENTAL  CHARACTERISTICS.  137 

torn  to  flatter  but  to  serve  the  language  of  panegyric, 
mankind,  I  will  speak  free-  These  praises  are  extorted 
ly." — Crisis,  xi.  from    me ;   but    they    will 

"  The  world  knows  I  am  wear  well,  for  they  have 
not  a  flatterer/^ — R.  M.,  been  dearly  earned/^ — Let. 
part  ii.  Preface.  53. 

The  above  characteristic  is  quite  peculiar.  I  do  not 
remember  of  ever  seeing  the  like  of  it  in  any  other 
writer,  and  as  there  is  a  perfect  parallel  here,  the  fact 
that  it  stands  almost  alone  gives  it  great  weight. 

They  were  both  enthusiasts,  as  the  following  paral- 
lel on  moderation  will  show : 

Paine.  Junius. 

"Though  I  would  care-  "The  lukewarm  advo- 
fully  avoid  giving  unneces-  cate  avails  hiaiself  of  any 
sary  oifense,  yet  I  am  in-  pretense  to  relapse  into  that 
clined  to  believe  that  all  indolent  indifference  about 
those  who  espouse  the  doc-  every  thing  that  ought  to 
trine  of  reconciliation  may  interest  an  Englishman,  so 
be  included  within  the  fol-  unjustly  dignified  with  the 
lowing  descriptions  :  Inter-  title  of  moderation.'^ — Let. 
ested  men,  who  are  not  to  58. 

be  trusted ;  weak  men  who       "I     have    been     silent 
can  not  see;  prejudiced  men  hitherto,  though  not  from 
who  will  not  see;  and  a  cer-  that  shameful   indifference 
tain  sort  of  moderate  men,  about  the   interests  of  so- 
who    think    better    of   the  cicty  which  too  many  of  us 
European  world  than  it  de-  possess    and    call    modera- 
serves;  and  this  last  class,  tion.^' — Let.  44. 
by  an   ill-judged  delibera- 
tion, will   be   the  cause  of 
more  calamities  to  this  con- 
tinent  than   all   the   other 
three." — Common  Sense. 


138  JUNIUS  UNMASKED. 

Paine  and  Junius  both  had  the  same  opinion  of  mod- 
erate men. 

They  both,  also,  had  secretiveness  large.  That  Jun- 
ius never  revealed  himself  to  the  world,  and  that  he 
baffled  all  the  king^s  spies,  is  evidence  enough  on  his 
side.  I  will  now  present  a  few  evidences  in  regard  to 
Mr.  Paine.  First,  in  regard  to  his  wife.  No  one 
knows  why  they  parted,  and,  when  interrogated,  he 
would  make  the  evasive  answer,  "  I  had  a  cause.'^  But, 
if  pressed,  he  would  bluntly  respond,  "  It  was  a  private 
aflPair,  and  nobody's  business."  He  also  sent  her  money 
without  letting  her  know  the  source  of  it.  Secondly: 
His  Common  Sense  was  kept  a  secret  from  Dr.  Franklin 
till  published,  and  this  when  the  doctor  had  j)Iaced  the 
materials  in  his  hands  toward  completing  a  history  of 
colonial  affairs.  He  says:  "I  expected  to  surprise  hira 
with  a  production  on  that  subject  much  earlier  than  he 
thought  of,  and,  without  informing  him  what  I  was 
doing,  got  it  ready  for  the  j)ress  as  fast  as  I  conveni- 
ently could,  and  sent  him  the  first  pampldet  that  was 
printed  off."  Thirdly:  He  projected  a  plan  of  going  to 
England  in  disguise,  and  getting  out  a  pamphlet  in  se- 
cret, to  rouse  the  P^nglish  people.  Sec  what  he  says, 
about  it  on  page  66  of  this  book.  Fourthly:  "The  Ad- 
dress and  Declaration  "  of  the  gentlemen  who  met  at 
the  Thatched  House  tavern  in  1791,  in  England,  was 
written  by  Mr.  Paine,  although  lie  was  not  known,  and 
took  no  })art  in  the  meeting.  He  only  revcalc»d  liimself 
as  the  author  of  it  after  Home  Tooke,  the  supj)0sed  au- 
thor, Imd  stated  that  Mr.  Paine  was  the  author.  But 
this  is  what  he  says  about  it:  "The  gentleman  who 


MENTAL   CHABACTERLSTICS.  139 

signed  the  address  and  declaration  as  chairman  of  the 
meeting,  Mr.  Home  Tooke,  being  generally  supposed  to 
be  the  person  who  drew  it  up,  and  having  spoken  much 
in  commendation  of  it,  has  been  jocularly  accused  of 
praising  his  own  work.  To  free  him  from  this  embar- 
rassment, and  to  save  him  the  repeated  trouble  of  men- 
tioning the  author,  as  he  has  not  failed  to  do,  I  make 
no  hesitation  in  saying,  I  drew  up  the  publication  in 
question,'^  etc. — Rights  of  Man,  note. 

This  is  sufficient  to  show  a  trait  of  character  which 
made  Junius,  as  a  secret,  a  success.  Without  this  strong 
ruling  passion  there  could  have  been  no  Junius  to  spring 
like  a  tiger  upon  king  and  court.  But,  if  it  can  be 
shown  in  any  mental  characteristic  that  Mr.  Paine  is 
incompatible  with  that  character  which  is  stamped  upon 
Junius  and  made  him  a  success,  I  will  surrender  the  ar- 
gument. 

Mr.  Paine  says,  as  Home  Tooke  had  not  failed  to  de- 
clare him  the  author,  he  then  acknowledged  it  as  his 
own.  Had  Mr.  Tooke  been  silent,  you  may  well  be  as- 
sured Mr.  Paine  would  never  have  divulged  it  to  friend 
or  foe  of  either.  Since  Mr.  Paine  above  has  used  the 
expression,  "Jocularly  accused  of  praising  his  own 
work,"  the  reader  will  not  fail  to  remember  the  same 
characteristic  in  Junius,  when  he  says  of  Philo  Junius, 
and  who  was  also  the  real  Junius  himself,  that  "the 
subordinate  character  was  never  guilty  of  the  indecorum 
of  praising  his  principal.'^  This  again  reminds  us  of 
Mr.  Paine,  when  speaking  of  that  passage  in  Numbers : 
"  Now  the  man  Moses  was  very  meek,  above  all  the 
men  which  were  on  the  face  of  the  earth."  Paine 
bluntly  responds :  "  If  Moses  said  this  of  himself,  in- 


140  JUNIUS  UNMASKED. 

Stead  of  being  the  meekest  of  men,  he  was  one  of  the 
'most  vain  and  arrogant  of  coxcombs/' 

I  now  call  attention  to  the  fact  that  Mr.  Paine  and 
Junius,  when  attacking  the  private  character  of  men, 
both  seem  to  delight,  when  the  fact  would  fit,  in 
charging  bastardy: 

Paine.  JunivLS. 

"A  French  bastardy  land-  Speaking  of  the  Duke  of 
ing  with  an  armed  banditti,  Grafton's  ancestors : 
and  establishing  himself  "  Those  of  your  grace, 
king  of  England  against  for  instance,  left  no  distress- 
the  consent  of  the  natives,  ing  examples  of  virtue,  even 
is,  in  plain  terms,  a  very  to  their /t'^i^ima^e  j^>osterity  ; 
paltry  rascally  original.  It  and  you  may  look  back 
certainly  hath  no  divinity  with  pleasure  to  an  illus- 
in  it." — Common  Sense.       trious    pedigree,  in   which 

heraldry  has  not  left  a  sin- 
gle good  quality  upon  re- 
cord to  insult  or  upbraid 
you.  You  have  better 
proofs  of  your  descent,  my 
lord,  than  the  register  of  a 
marriage,"  etc. — Let.  12. 

In  their  appeals  to  posterity  they  were  both  equal 
and  frequent.  Mr.  Paine  says,  in  closing  his  first 
Crisis:  *'  By  perseverance  and  fortitude  we  have  the 
prospect  of  a  glorious  issue ;  by  cowardice  and  sub- 
mission the  sad  choice  of  a  variety  of  evils,  a  ravaged 
country,  a  depopulated  city,  habitations  without  safety, 
and  slavery  without  hope;  our  homes  turned  int^^  bar- 
racks and  bawdy-houses  for  Hessians  and  a  future  race 


MENTAL  CIIAllACrERISTiaS.  141 

to  provide  for,  whose  fathers  we  shall  doubt  of.  liook 
on  this  picture  and  weep  over  it !  and  if  there  yet  re- 
mains one  thoughtless  wretch  who  believes  it  not,  let 
him  suffer  it  unlamented/'  Junius  also  says  in  strains 
as  pathetic  and  patriotic :  '^  We  owe  it  to  posterity  not 
to  suffer  their  dearest  inheritance  to  be  destroyed.  But 
if  it  were  possible  for  us  to  be  insensible  of  these  sa- 
cred claims,  there  is  yet  an  obligation  binding  on  our- 
selves, from  which  nothing  can  acquit  us,  a  personal 
interest  which  we  can  not  surrender.  To  alienate  even 
our  own  rights  would  be  a  crime  as  much  more  enor- 
mous than  suicide  as  a  life  of  civil  security  and  freedom 
is  superior  to  a  bare  existence ;  and  if  life  be  the  bounty 
of  Heaven,  we  scornfully  reject  the  noblest  part  of  the 
gift,  if  we  consent  to  surrender  that  certain  rule  of  liv- 
ing, without  which  the  condition  of  human  nature  is 
not  only  miserable,  but  contemptible.'^ — Let.  20. 

In  the  study  of  the  human  heart,  and  in  a  knowl- 
edge of  the  secret  workings  of  the  mind  they  were 
both  masters.  And,  had  it  not  been  that  they  over- 
applied  the  nobler  virtues  in  the  common  people,  they 
would  never  have  gone  wrong  in  their  conclusions. 
They  failed  not  in  the  knowledge,  but  in  the  applica- 
tion of  the  thing.  They  thought  it  existed  where  it 
did  not.  But  this  is  the  law,  which  they  laid  down  as 
follows : 

Paine,  Junius. 

"  It  is  the  faculty  of  the  "  By  persuading  others 
human  mind  to  become  we  convince  ourselves.  The 
what  it  contemplates,  and  passions  are  engaged,  and 
to  act  in  unison  with  its  create  a  maternal  affection 
objects.^' — R.  M.,  part  i.       in  the  mind   which   forces 


142  JUNIUS  UNMASKED, 

US  to  love  the  cause  for  M'hich  we  suffer."  .  .  , 
*'  When  once  a  man  is  determined  to  believe,  the  very 
absurdity  of  the  doctrine  confirms  him  in  his  faith." — 
Let.  35. 

The  mental  constitution  of  Mr.  Paine  made  him 
practical.  What  he  knew  he  considered  of  no  use  to 
himself  unless  he  could  apply  it  in  some  way.  He  finds 
the  people  oppressed  by  the  usurpations  of  govern- 
ment, and  he  urges  to  rebellion.  He  finds  in  America, 
Britain  had  prohibited  the  importation  of  powder,  and 
his  knowledge  of  chemistry  immediately  supplies  the 
national  magazines.  His  mechanical  thought  was  not 
satisfied  until  it  had  taken  the  form  of  an  iron  bridge. 
It  was  the  same  disposition  in  Junius  which  kept  him 
forever  talking  of  "experience,"  and  the  "evidence  of 
facts."     I  give  a  single  parallel  out  of  hundreds : 

Paine,  Junius, 

"  In  the  progress  of  poli-  "'  As  you  youi'self  are  a 
tics,  as  in  the  common  oc-  singular  instance  of  youth 
currences  of  life,  we  are  not  without  spirit,  the  man 
only  apt  to  forget  the  who  defends  you  is  a  no 
ground  we  have  traveled  less  remarkable  example 
over,  but  frequently  nog-  of  age  without  the  benefit 
lect  to  gather  up  experience  of  experienced^ — Let.  9. 
as  we  go." — Crisis,  iii. 

I  merely  call  attention  to  the  above  fact  as  a  practi- 
cal feature  of  the  mind  common  to  both.  In  the  same 
manner  both  make  frequent  mention  of  ^^ reason*^  and 
"common  sense."  Examples  of  this  kind  it  is  useless 
to  give,  for  they  look  out  from  every  page. 

I  now  pass  to  consider  their  doctrines  and  private 
opinions ;  and  first  of  politics : 


MENTAL  CHARACTERISTICS.  143 

I  have  heretofore  proven  that  they  were  not  parti- 
sans in  the  strict  sense  of  the  term,  yet  they  both  had 
party  proclivities : 

Paine,  Junius. 

"  There  is  a  dignity  in  To  the  king :  ^'  You  are 
tne  warm  passions  of  a  not,  however,  destitute  of 
whig  which  is  never  to  be  support.  You  have  all  the 
found  in  the  cold  malice  of  a  Jacobites,  Non-jurors,  Ro- 
tory;  in  the  one  nature  is  man  Catholics,  and  Tories 
only  heated,  in  the  other  of  this  country,  and  all 
poisoned.  The  instant  the  Scotland  without  excep- 
former  has  it  in  his  power  tion.  .  .  .  And  truly, 
to  punish,  he  feels  a  dispo-  sir,  if  you  had  not  lost  the 
sition  to  forgive,  but  the  Wliig  interest  of  England, 
canine  venom  of  the  latter  I  should  admire  your  dex- 
knows  no  relief  but  re-  terity  in  turning  the  hearts 
venge.  This  general  dis-  of  your  enemies."  —  Let. 
tinction    will,     I    believe,  85. 

apply  in  all  cases,  and  suits  "  When  I  hear  the  un- 
as  well  the  meridian  of  defined  privileges  of  the 
England  as  America."  —  popular  branch  of  the  leg- 
Crisis,  vi.  islature   exalted    by   tories 

and  Jacobites,   at   the   ex- 
pense of  those  strict  rights 
which   are  known   to    the 
subject  and  limited  by  the 
laws,  I   can   not  but   suspect  that  some   mischievous 
scheme  is  in  agitation  to  destroy  both   law  and  privi- 
lege, by  opposing  them  to  each  other."— Let.  44. 

They  both  declare  Law  to  he  Icing: 

Paine.  Junius. 

"  But  where,  say  some.       To  the  king  :  "  Nor  can 

is   the  king  of  America?  you  ever  succeed  [against 

.      So  far   a,";}  we   Wilkes]   unless  he  should 


144  JUNIUS  UNMASKED. 

approve  of  monarchy,  in  be  imprudent  enough  to 
America  the  law  is  kingJ^  forfeit  the  protection  of 
C.  S.  those   laws   to    which   you 

owe  your  crownJ^ — Let.  35. 

They  both  express  themselves  on  the  game  laws  of 
England  as  follows : 

Paine.  Junius, 

*•  Had  there  been  a  house  "As  to  the  game  laws, 
of  farmers,  there  had  been  he  [Junius]  never  scrupled 
no  game  laws.  .  .  .  The  to  declare  his  o})inion  that 
French  constitution  says  they  are  a  species  of  the 
there  shall  be  no  game  forest  laws:  that  they  are 
laws;  that  the  farmer  on  oppressive  to  the  subject; 
whose  lands  wild  game  shall  and  that  tlie  spirit  of  them 
be  found  (for  it  is  by  the  is  incompatible  with  legal 
])roduce  of  those  lands  liberty:  that  the  penalties 
they  are  fed)  shall  have  a  imposed  by  these  laws  bear 
riglit  to  what  he  can  take,  no  proportion  to  the  nature 
In  England,  game  is  made  of  the  offense:  tliat  in  par- 
the  property  of  those  at  ticular,  the  late  acts  to  ]>re- 
whose  expense  it  is  fed." —  vent  dog-stealing  or  killing 
R.  of  M.  game  between  sun  and  sun, 

are  distinguished  by  their 
absurdity,  extravagance, 
and  pernicious  tendency." 
—Let.  63. 

Both  express  themselves  the  same  on  lavjs  in  general : 

Paine,  Junius, 

"  The  government  of  a  free  "  The  submission  of  a  free 
country,  properly  speaking,  people  to  the  executive  au- 
is  not  in  the  persons,  but  thority  of  government  is  no 
in  the  laws,*^ — K.  of  M.        moretlmna  compliance  with 

the  laws  which  they  them- 
selves have  enacted." — L.  1. 


CENTAL   CHARACTERISTICS.  I45 

I  would  have  the  reader  mark  the  fact  that  the 
above  sentiment  of  Junius  is  the  first  he  proclaims  in 
his  book.  This,  it  will  readily  be  seen,  contains  in 
itself  the  whole  system  of  politics  which  Junius  and 
Paine  labored  to  establish.  From  this  sentiment  arose 
the  frequent  expressions  of  Junius,  ^'  Original  rights;" 
^*  First  rights ; "  "  Sacred  original  rights  of  the  people ; " 
*'  The  meanest  mechanic  is  equal  to  the  noblest  peer ; " 
and  which  Paine  embodied  in  the  expression,  '^  Man- 
kind are  originally  equal  in  the  order  of  creation." 
Herein  also  we  find  the  foundation  for  that  method  of 
both  in  tracing  the  rights  of  man  back  to  their  origin, 
and  the  easy  manner  in  distinguishing  original  right 
from  usurpation.     A  parallel  here  will  make  this  plain : 

Paine.  Junius. 

"  The  example  shows  to  "  To  establish  a  claim  of 
the  artificial  world  that  man  privilege  in  either  house, 
must  go  back  to  nature  for  and  to  distinguish  original 
information." — P.  M.,  part  7-ight  from  usurj)ation,  it 
ii.  "  Can  we  possibly  sup-  must  appear  that  it  is  indis- 
pose that  if  government  pensably  necessary  for  the 
had  originated  in  a  right  performance  of  the  duty, 
principle  and  had  not  an  in-  and  also  that  it  has  been 
terest  in  pursuing  a  wrong  uniformly  allowed.  From 
one,  that  the  world  could  the  first  part  of  this  de- 
have  been  in  the  wretched  scription  it  follows,  clearly, 
and  quarrelsome  condition  that  whatever  privilege  does 

we  have  seen  it? of  right  belong  to  the  pres- 

What  was  at  first  plunder,  ent  House  of  Commons,  did 
assumed  the  softer  name  of  equally  belong  to  the  first 
revenue,  and  the  power  assembly  of  their  prede- 
originally  usurped  they  af-  cessors,  was  so  com})letely 
fected  to  inherit." — R.  M.,  vested  in  them,  and  might 
part  ii.,  chap.  ii.     See,  also,  have  been  exercised  in  the 


146  JUNIUS  UNMASKED. 

a  fine  specimen  of  this  kind  same  extent.  From  the 
of  argumentation  in  the  second  we  must  infer  that 
first  chapter  of  Common  privileges  which,  for  sev- 
Sense.  eral    centuries,    were    not 

only  never  allowed,  but 
never  even  claimed  by  the 
House  of  Commons,  must 
be  founded  upon  usurpa- 
tion.''—Let.  44. 

In  regard  to  America,  I  have  shown  their  views  to 
run  parallel.  Mr.  Paine  says  in  Crisis  vii :  "  The 
ministry  and  minority  have  both  been  wrong."  And 
Junius  says  in  his  first  Letter :  "  But  unfortunately  for 
his  country,  Mr.  Grenville  was  at  any  rate  to  be  dis- 
tressed because  he  was  minister,  and  Mr.  Pitt  and  Lord 
Camden  were  to  be  the  patrons  of  America  because  they 
were  in  opposition."  The  minority  here  meant  no  more 
than  the  ruin  of  a  minister  and  split  the  nation,  with- 
out doing  the  colonies  any  good.  Mr.  Paine  also  says 
of  Lord  Chatham  on  this  same  point  in  Crisis  viii : 
"  An  opinion  hangs  about  the  gentlemen  of  the  minor- 
ity, that  America  would  relish  measures  under  their 
administration  which  she  would  not  from  the  present 
cabinet.  On  this  rock  Lord  Chatham  would  have  split 
had  he  gained  the  helm." 

I  bring  forward  this  parallel  to  show  three  things, 
the  same  political  opinions,  the  same  views  of  the  par- 
ties in  England,  and  the  same  figures  of  speech,  all 
thrown  into  the  same  subject-tnattcr.  This,  together 
with  the  same  resemblance  in  style,  surely  point  to  the 
same  author. 


MENTAL   CHARACTEEmTICS.  I47 

This  leads  me  on  to  speak  of  other  private  opinions. 
And  first  of  lawyers,  and  especially  Lord  Mansfield : 

Paine.  Junius, 

^^  It  is  difficult  to  know  '^As  a  practical  profes- 
when  a  lawyer  is  to  be  be-  sion,  the  study  of  the  law 
lieved.'^ — Let.  to  Erskine,  requires  but  a  moderate 
Int.  portion  of   abilities.      The 

Of  those  w^ho  preside  at  learning  of  a  pleader  is 
St.  James^  ^^  They  know  usually  upon  a  level  with 
no  other  influence  than  cor-  his  integrity.  The  indis- 
ruption,  and  reckon  all  their  criminate  defense  of  right 
probabilities  from  prece-  and  wrong  contracts  the 
dent.  A  new  case  is  to  understanding,  while  it  cor- 
thera  a  new  world,  and  rupts  the  heart.  Subtlety 
while  they  are  seeking  for  is  soon  mistaken  for  wis- 
a  parallel  they  get  lost,  dom,  and  impunity  for  vir- 
The  talents  of  Lord  Mans-  tue.  If  there  be  any  in- 
field can  be  estimated  at  stances  u})on  record  (as 
best  no  higher  than  those  some  there  are  undoubtedly 
of  a  sophist.  He  under-  of  genius  and  morality 
stands  the  subtleties  but  united  in  a  lawyer),  they 
not  the  elegance  of  nature,  are  distinguished  by  their 
and  by  continually  viewing  singularity,  and  operate  as 
mankind  through  the  cold  exceptions.^' — Let.  67. 
medium  of  the  law,  never  "  Considering  the  situa- 
thinks  of  penetrating  into  tion  and  abilities  of  Lord 
the  warmer  regions  of  the  Mansfield,  I  do  not  scruple 
mind." — Crisis,  vii.  to    affirm,  with   the    most 

solemn  appeal  to  God  for 
my  sincerity,  that  in  my 
judgment  he  is  the  very 
worst  and  most  dangerous 
man  in  the  kingdom." — 
Let.  m. 

The  above  parallel  in  regard  to  Lord  Mansfield  is 
most  remarkable.     Let  us  consider  it.     Whether  the 
10 


148  JUNIUS  UNMASKED. 

statements  be  true  or  riot,  is  immaterial.  Mr.  Paine 
said  he  kuew  no  other  influence  than  corruption ;  that 
his  talents  were  those  of  a  sophist,  and  that  he  under- 
stood the  subtleties  of  nature,  not  its  elegance.  Refer- 
ence is  here  had  to  the  Athenian  sophists,  whose  art  it 
was  "to  make  the  worse  appear  the  better  reason/' 
This  art  made  them  talented  in  a  certain  direction,  and 
in  the  employment  of  it  they  became  renowned  and 
rich.  Paine  affirms  that  the  law  had  corrupted  him. 
Junius  says  the  practice  of  the  law  makes  a  bad  man, 
and  that  Mansfield  was,  considering  the  conditions,  the 
worst  man  in  the  kingdom.  This  is  an  opinion  so  sin- 
gular and  prominent,  so  rare  among  men,  and  expressed 
so  boldly  and  unqualifiedly,  by  both  Paine  and  Junius, 
that  it  furnishes  a  parallel  which  comes  with  positive 
and  telling  force.  Perhaps  Paine  and  Junius  were  the 
only  two  writers  at  the  time  who  held  this  opinion. 
And  that  they  should  express  it  in  the  same  manner, 
with  all  the  fine  shades  and  attending  peculiarities  the 
same,  and  be  at  the  same  time  two  persons,  is  a  phe- 
nomenon which  nature  never  exhibited  but  once,  and 
never  will  again  among  mankind.  To  remove  the 
weight  of  this  evidence,  something  positive  must  be 
brought  forward  to  rebut  it. 

It  will  bo  noticed  above  that  Mr.  Paine  spoke  of 
**  precedent"  being  the  basis  of  reckoning  all  their 
probabilities,  and  that  a  new  case  w^as  a  new  world. 
Here  we  find  another  parallel  in  opinion : 

Paine,  Junius. 

"  Government  by  prece-  "  Precedents,  in  opposi- 
dent,  without  any  regard  to  tion  to  principle,  have  lit- 


MENTAL  CHABACTERI8TICS.  149 

the  principle  of  the  prece-  tie  weight  with  Junius,  but 
dent,  is  one  of  the  vilest  he  thought  it  necessary  to 
systems  that  can  be  set  up.  meet  the  ministry  on  their 
In  numerous  instances,  the  own  ground." — Let.  16, 
precedent  ought  to  operate  note. 

as  a  warning,  and  not  as  "  I  am  no  friend  to  the 
an  example,  and  requires  to  doctrine  of  precedents,  ex- 
be  shunned  instead  of  imi-  elusive  of  right,  though 
tated ;  but,  instead  of  this,  lawyers  often  tell  us  that 
precedents  are  taken  in  the  whatever  has  been  done 
lump,  and  put  at  once  for  once  may  lawfully  be  done 
constitution  and  for  law.^^  again.'' — Preface. 
R.  of  M.,  part  ii.,  chap.  iv. 

Many  examples  could  be  given  of  the  above  like- 
ness, but  these  are  sufficient. 

I  submit  the  following  in  regard  to  Lord  North: 

Paine.  Junius, 

"As  for  Lord  North,  it  "The  management  of  the 
is  his  happiness  to  have  in  king's  affairs  in  the  House 
him  more  philosophy  than  of  Commons  can  not  be 
sentiment,  for  he  bears  flog-  more  disgraced  than  it  has 
ging  like  a  top,  and  sleeps  been.  A  leading  minister 
the  better  for  it.  His  pun-  repeatedly  called  down  for 
ishment  becomes  his  sup-  absolute  ignorance,  ridic- 
port,  for  while  he  suffers  ulous  motions  ridiculously 
the  lash  for  his  sins,  he  withdrawn,  deliberate  plans 
keeps  himself  up  by  twirl-  disconcerted,  a  week's  prep- 
ing  about.  In  politics,  he  aration  of  graceful  oratory 
is  a  good  arithmetician,  and  lost  in  a  moment,  give  us 
in  every  thing  else  nothing  some  though  not  adequate 
cd  alV^ — Crisis,  vii.  ideas  of  Lord  North's  par- 

liamentary abilities  and  in- 
fluence. Yet,  before  he 
had  the  misfortune  of  be- 
ing Chancellor  of  the  Ex- 


150  JUNIUS  UNMASKED. 

chequer,  he  was  neither  an  object  of  derision  to  his 
enemies,  nor  of  melancholy  pity  to  his  friends.  I  hope 
he  [Grafton]  will  not  rely  on  the  fertility  of  Lord 
North's  genius  for  finance ;  his  lordship  is  yet  to  give  us 
the  first  proof  of  his  abilities.^' — Let.  1. 

Mr.  Paine,  no  doubt,  had  in  his  mind  this  passage 
of  Junius  when  he  described  him  as  a  twirling  top,  a 
good  arithmetician  in  politics,  but  in  every  thing  else 
nothing  at  all. 

In  speaking  of  the  misconduct  of  England,  they  both 
make  it  commence  at  the  termination  of  the  Seven  Years* 
War,  and  speak  of  the  time  reckoned  from  the  beginning 
of  the  year  1763.  I  will  notice  Junius  first,  so  as  to 
present  this  parallel  in  chronological  order.  He  says 
in  his  first  Letter,  written  Jan.  21,  1769:  "Outraged 
and  oppressed  as  we  are,  this  nation  will  not  bear,  after 
a  six  years'  peace,  to  see  new  millions,"  etc.  On  Feb- 
ruary 14,  1770,  he  says :  "At  the  end  of  seven  years  we 
are  loaded  with  a  debt,"  etc.  This  is  the  method,  in 
regard  to  time  Junius  always  employs  when  speaking 
of  the  distress  and  calamities  of  England. 

Let  us  now  pass  over  to  America,  and  we  find,  near 
the  close  of  1778,  Mr.  Paine  uses  the  same  method  and 
language,  when  addressing  the  people  of  England  in 
Crisis,  vii :  "  A  period  of  sixteen  years  of  misconduct 
and  misfortune  is  certainly  long  enough  for  any  one 
nation  to  suffer  under."  He  elsewhere  uses  the  vsanie 
language  in  the  same  way,  which  shows  a  mental  habit 
peculiar  to  both. 

The  same  opinion  of  cx)urt  and  courtier  has  elsewhere 


MENTAL   CHARACTERISTICS.  151 

been  shown,  but  a  definite  parallel  or  two  may  not  be 
out  of  place : 

Paine.  Junius. 

"  For  the  caterpillar  prin-  "  Where  birth  and  fortune 
ciples  of  all  courts  and  cour- are  united,  we  expect  the 
tiers  are  alike.'^ — Rights  of  noble  pride  and  indepen- 
Man,  part  i.  dence  of  a  man  of  spirit, 

not  the  servile,  humiliating 
complaisance  of  a  courtier." 
Let.  1. 

They  held  the  same  opinion  of  oaths : 

Paine,  Junius, 

"If  a  government  re-  "He  [the  minister]  is 
quires  the  support  of  oaths,  the  tenant  of  the  day,  and 
it  is  a  sign  that  it  is  has  no  interest  in  the  in- 
not  worth  supporting,  and  heritance.  The  sovereign 
ought  not  to  be  supported."  himself  is  bound  by  other 
E,.  of  M.,  part  ii,  chap.  iv.   obligations,  and  ought   to 

look  forward  to  a  superior, 
a  permanent  interest.     His 
paternal  tenderness  should  remind  him  how  many  hos- 
tages he  has  given  to  society.     The  ties  of  nature  come 
powerfully  in  aid  of  oaths  and  protestations." — Let.  38. 

They  place  personal  interest  above  strict  moral  right, 
as  a  means  of  improvement; 

Paine.  Junius. 

"  As  to  mere  theoretical  "  It  will  be  said,  that  I 
reformation,  I  have  never  deny  at  one  moment  what 
preached  it  up.  The  most  I  would  allow  at  another, 
efiectual  process  is  that  of  To  this  I  answer,  gen- 
improving  the  condition  of  erally,  that  human  affairs 
man  by  means  of  his  inter-  are  in  no  instance  governed 


152  JUNIUS  UNMASKED. 

est,  and  it  is  on  this  by  strict,  positive  right, 
ground  that  I  take  my  .  .  .  My  premises,  I 
stand." — R.  of  M.,  part  ii,  know,  will  be  denied  in  ar- 
chap.  V.  gument,  but   every    man's 

conscience  tells  him  they  are 
true.     It  remains  then  to 
be   considered    whether   it  be   for  the  interest  of  the 
people/^  etc. — Let.  44. 

The  reader  will  here  see  a  mental  characteristic  the 
same,  and  a  philosophy  growing  therefrom  which  is 
boldly  affirmed  by  both. 

That  we  gather  strength  by  antagonism,  and  in  this 
way  the  vicious  are  often  brought  into  notice  and  be- 
come successful,  is  a  prominent  fact  noticed  by  both . 

Paine,  Junius. 

"Those  whose  sentiments      "Mr.    Wilkes,    if    not 
are  injudicious  or  unfriend-  persecuted,    will    soon    be 
ly,  will  cease  of  themselves,  forgotten. — Let.    H.     See 
unless  too  much   pains   is  also  Let.  1  and  35. 
bestowed  upon   their  con- 
version.'*— C.  S.,  Int. 

I  have  heretofore  given  examples  of  the  above  to 
prove  another  fact. 

I  now  call  attention  to  the  passion  of  suspicion : 

Paine,  Junius, 

"  I  am  not  of  a  disposi-  "The  situation  of  this 
lion  inclined  to  suspicion,  country  is  alarming  enough 
It  is,  in  its  nature,  a  mean  to  rouse  the  attention  of 
and  cowardly  })assion,  and,  every  man  who  piTtends  to 
upon  the  wliole,  even  ad-  a  concern  for  the  public 
mitting  error  into  the  case,  welfare.  A ])pearances  jus- 
it  is  better ;  I  am  sure  it  is  tify   suspicion  ;  and   when 


MENTAL  CHARAGTERmTICS.  153 

more  generous  to  be  wrong  the  safety  of  a  nation  is  at 
on   the  side  of  confidence,  stake,    suspicion    is  a  just 
than   on   the   side   of  sus-  ground  of  inquiry/' — Let. 
j3icion.     But^  I  know  as  a  1. 
fact,  that  the  English  gov- 
ernment.   .  .  .  Their  anti- 
revolutionary    doctrines 
invite      suspicion      even 
against  one's  will,   and  in 
spite  of  one's  charity  to  be- 
lieve well  of  them." — Let. 
to  Samuel  Adams. 

The  above  is  strong  language  in  regard  to  suspicion. 
Paine  thinks  it  mean  and  cowardly  if  not  well  founded, 
and  Junius  thinks  it  is  justifiable  when  the  safety  of  a 
nation  is  at  stake.  This  is  an  uncommon  sentiment, 
and,  if  Mr.  Paine  was  Junius,  he  is  found  repeating 
himself  after  an  interval  of  thirty- four  years. 

In  regard  to  thinking  for  one's  self,  Junius  says  of 
Benson,  in  withering  rebuke  to  Lord  Mansfield,  who 
had  committed  him  for  contempt:  *^He  had  the  impu- 
dence to  pretend  to  think  for  himself J^  Paine  exclaims: 
"Why  is  man  afraid  to  think?" 

There  is  a  fact  now  in  regard  to  the  English  army 
which  is  of  great  weight  in  my  argument  relative  to  a 
change  of  opinion.  Junius  always  spoke  highly  of  the 
army,  while  he  sometimes  censured  individual  officers. 
Speaking  of  the  regiments  of  the  guards,  he  says:  "Far 
be  it  from  me  to  insinuate  the  most  distant  reflection 
upon  the  army.  On  the  contrary,  I  honor  and  esteem 
the  profession,  and  if  these  gentlemen  were  better  sol- 
diers I  am  sure  they  would  be  better  subjects."     Mr. 


154  JUNIUS  UNMASKED. 

Paine,  just  nine  years  afterward,  when  in  America,  and 
fighting  against  the  English  army,  says  of  the  English 
people:  "They  are  made  to  believe  that  their  generals 
and  armies  differ  from  those  of  other  nations,  and  have 
nothing  of  rudeness  or  barbarity  in  them.  They  sup- 
pose them  what  they  wish  them  to  be ;  they  feel  a  dis- 
grace in  thinking  otherwise.  There  was  a  time  when 
I  felt  the  same  prejudices,  and  reasoned  from  the  same 
errors;  but  experience — sad  and  painful  experience — 
has  taught  me  better.  What  the  conduct  of  former  ar- 
mies was  I  know  not,  but  what  the  conduct  of  the  pres- 
ent is  I  well  know — it  is  low,  cruel,  indolent,  and  prof- 
ligate."— Crisis,  vii.  This  is  a  species  of  dovetailing 
the  life  and  opinions  of  Junius  into  those  of  Mr.  Paine. 
But  the  reader  will  see  there  is  no  effoi-t  on  my  part. 
All  I  ask  is  for  truth  to  take  its  course.  It  would  be 
beneath  the  dignity  of  a  scientific  criticism  to  stoop  to 
artifice. 

I  wish  now  to  bring  forward  a  complex  parallel,  to 
show  that  pride  of  character  which,  would  not  stoop  to 
the  meanness  of  party  politics,  and  to  show,  also,  their 
opinion  of  brilx;ry  at  elections,  and  the  origin  of  "  mili- 
tary governments  "  in  England. 

*'  It  is  difficult,"  says  Mr.  Paine,  "  to  account  for  the 
origin  of  charter  and  corporation  towns,  unless  wc  sup- 
pose them  to  have  arisen  out  of,  or  having  been  con- 
nected with,  some  species  of  garrison  service.  The 
times  in  which  they  began  justify  this  idea.  The  gen- 
erality of  these  towns  have  been  garrisons,  and  the  cor- 
porations were  charged  with  the  care  of  the  gates  of  the 
town  when  no  military  garrison  was  present.     Their 


MENTAL   CHARACTERISTICS,  155 

refusing  or  granting  admission  to  strangers,  which  has 
produced  the  custom  of  giving,  selling,  and  buying  free- 
dom, has  more  of  the  nature  of  garrison  authority  than 
civil  government." — Rights  of  Man,  part  ii,  chap.  5, 
note. 

I  am  now  prepared  to  give  the  parallels : 

Paine.  Junius, 

"As  one  of  the  houses  of  "  But  it  seems  the  sale 
the  English  Parliament  is  of  a  civil  employment  was 
in  a  great  measure  made  up  not  sufficient,  and  militm^y 
by  elections  from  these  cor-  governments,  which  were 
porations,  and  as  it  is  un-  intended  for  the  support  of 
natural  that  a  pure  stream  worn-out  veterans,  must  be 
would  flow  from  a  foul  thrown  into  the  scale  to  de- 
fountain,  its  vices  are  but  fray  the  extensive  bribery 
a  continuation  of  the  vices  of  a  contested  election." — 
of  its  origin.  A  man  of  Let.  34. 
moral  honor  and  good  po-  "  But  is  there  no  honor- 
litical  principles  can  not  able  way  to  serve  the  pub- 
submit  to  the  mean  drudg-  lie  Avithout  engaging  in 
ery  and  disgraceful  arts  by  personal  quarrels  with  in- 
which  such  elections  are  significant  individuals,  or 
carried."  submitting  to  the  drudgery 

of  canvassing  votes  for  an 
election." — Let.  53. 

Says  Mr.  Paine :  "7  love  method^  This,  every  action 
proved.  His  business  transactions,  hLs  political  plans, 
the  productions  of  his  pen,  were  all  in  design  and  exe- 
cution methodical.  In  dedicating  his  life  to  the  good 
of  mankind,  he  studied  method  in  the  use  of  his  great 
mental  powers.  He  never  set  about  doing  any  thing 
without  a  plan  and  specifications.  He  carried  in  the 
brain  the  ideal  of  the  work  he  was  to  give  material 


156  JUNIUS  UNMA8KED. 

shape  and  substance.  His  plans  were  always  well- 
digested  and  often  long  in  maturing.  He,  for  exam- 
ple, anticipatea  the  revolution,  and  proceeded  to  fill  the 
public  arsenals  with  powder.  He  then  brought  out 
Common  Sense,  when  public  opinion  was  decidedly 
against  a  declaration  of  independence;  to  e<lucate  that 
public  sentiment  in  favor  of  it.  This  produced  the 
desired  effect,  and  when  war  was  fairly  begun  upon  a 
proper  basis  and  plan,  he  struck  the  enemy  at  the 
proper  time  and  place  with  an  occasional  Crisis.  The 
first  Crisis  he  wrote,  for  example,  won  a  battle  for  the 
Union.  After  the  war  was  over,  he  went  to  England 
and  brought  out  his  Rights  of  Man,  laboring  in  the 
same  lines  and  advocating  the  very  principles  of  Junius. 
There  is  not  a  political  principle  expressed  in  Junius 
which  was  not  again  reproduced  in  Rights  of  Man. 
But  method  is  stamjied  upon  every  production  of  his 
pen.  Take,  for  example.  Common  Sense.  The  design 
was  to  bring  public  sentiment  up  to  a  declaration  of 
independence.  Now  if  we  examine  the  method  of  the 
work,  we  will  find  the  steps  like  a  geometrical  demon- 
stration, from  first  principles  to  conclusion.  In  Com- 
mon Sense  he  first  convinces  the  reason,  then  inflames 
the  passions,  and  lastly  destroys  dissension  by  a  stirring, 
manly,  patriotic  appeal.  The  work  pi'oper  is  divided 
into  four  parts. 

I.  Of  tlie  origin  and  design  of  government.  Here 
the  first  principles  are  laid  down,  and  are  such  as  to 
convince  the  mind  of  every  man  capable  of  thinking. 
He  then  shows  that  the  P]nglish  constitution  is  not 
founded  upon  such  principles;  and  that  a  jXHiple  seek- 
ing political  happiness  while  clinging  to  such  a  rotten 


MENTAL   CHARACTERISTICS.  157 

government,  is  like  a  man  seeking  connubial  happiness 
while  he  is  attached  to  a  prostitute. 

II.  Of  monarchy  and  hereditary  succession.  Here 
he  brings  out  his  great  political  axiom,  the  equality  of 
man  in  the  order  of  creation,  and  then  ridicules  the  pre- 
tentions of  kings,  and  demolishes  the  whole  fabric  of 
*^  sacred  titles  "  by  an  appeal  to  sacred  and  profane  his- 
tory, to  the  rights  of  man,  to  his  reason,  to  his  affec- 
tions, and  to  posterity.  He  has  now  prepared  the  mind 
of  the  American  reader  for  the  reception  of  truth,  and 
he  brings  forward — 

III.  Thoughts  on  the  present  state  of  the  American 
affairs. 

He  begins  by  saying :  ^^  In  the  following  pages  I  offer 
nothing  more  than  simple  facts,  plain  arguments,  and 
common  sense.^'  It  is  now  he  warms  with  the  subject, 
and  having  before  prepared  the  mind  with  exalted 
views  of  government  and  with  the  axioms  upon  which 
all  just  governments  are  founded;  having  before  shown 
that  all  legislative  powers  are  derived  from  the  people, 
and  founded  in  the  consent  of  the  governed ;  having,  in 
short,  announced  his  bill  of  rights,  he  now  comes  for- 
ward with  an  indictment  against  England.  This  is  full 
and  complete,  and  by  the  time  the  reader  has  done  with 
it  he  is  then  prepared  for  his  final  argument,  which  is — 

IV.  The  ability  of  America  to  acquire  and  maintain 
her  independence. 

He  afterward  added  an  appendix,  in  which  he  re- 
counts the  principal  causes  which  impel  the  colonies  to 
a  separation. 

The  reader  will  remark  the  method  of  the  whole  piece. 
He  takes  hold  of  the  mind  by  strategy  at  first,  and  then 


158  JUNIUS   UNMASKED. 

places  before  it  principles,  facts,  causes,  and  consequences, 
till  he  has  made  it  entirely  his  own. 

If  now  the  reader  will  return  to  the  first  Letter  of 
Junius,  he  will  find  an  admirable  example  of  the  same 
metliod.  As  to  method^  the  two  pieces  are  every  way 
identical.  Did  a  person  not  study  this  Letter  of  Ju- 
nius, he  would  perhaps  fail  to  get,  at  first,  the  exact 
likeness  which  Mr.  Paine  has  so  completely  reproduced 
in  Common  Sense,  as  an  artistic  performance. 

Junius'  Letter  to  the  king  is  also  an  example  of  the 
same  method.  There  is,  first,  the  bill  of  rights,  and 
then  the  indictment.  We  find  here  the  same  strategy, 
which  takes  possession  of  the  mind  of  the  people,  the 
same  method  to  place  the  writer  above  and  beyond 
selfish  motives,  the  same  foundation  of  principles,  the 
same  superstructure  of  argument,  and  the  same  method 
of  bringing  the  reader  to  the  conclusions.  Herein  we 
find  policy. 

The  policy  of  Mr.  Paine  made  him  extremely  cau- 
tious, and  he  weighed  well  the  consequences  of  speak- 
ing to  the  public,  studying  especially  the  proj^r  time. 
This  was  the  habit  of  Junius  also.  I  will  now  give  a 
few  examples:  When  the  civil  laws  of  England  had 
been  trampled  on  by  the  military,  in  the  case  of  General 
Ganscl,  Junius  delayed  speaking  about  it.  lie  says: 
"  Had  I  taken  it  up  at  an  earlier  period,  I  should  have 
been  accused  of  an  uncandid,  malignant  precipitation, 
as  if  I  watched  for  an  unfair  advantage  against  the 
ministry,  and  would  not  allow  thcni  a  reasonable  time 
to  do  their  duty.  They  now  stand  without  excuse." — 
Let.  30.    He  then  proceeds  to  strike  the  ministry  "hip 

/ 


MENTAL   CHARACTEMI8TICS.  159 

and  thigli.'^  In  Letter  44  he  also  mentions  the  fact  of 
having  been  silent^  not  from  a  "shameful  indiiference," 
but  because  he  had  determined  to  "  not  deliver  a  hasty 
opinion  on  a  matter  of  so  much  delicacy  and  impor- 
tance." 

The  same  constitutional  caution  is  exhibited  in  Mr. 
Paine.  Upon  national  honor,  in  Crisis  xii,  dated  May, 
1782,  he  says:  "In  March,  1780,  I  published  part  of 
the  Crisis,  No.  viii,  in  the  newspapers,  but  did  not 
conclude  it  in  the  following  papers,  and  the  remainder 
has  lain  by  me  till  the  present  day.  There  apj)eared 
about  that  time  some*disposition  in  the  British  cabinet 
to  cease  the  further  prosecution  of  the  war,  and  as  I  had 
formed  my  opinion  that  whenever  such  a  design  should 
take  place,  it  would  be  accompanied  by  a  dishonorable 
proposition  to  America  respecting  France,  I  had  sup- 
pressed the  remainder  of  that  number,  not  to  expose  the 
baseness  of  any  such  proposition."  He  now  incorpo- 
rates it  in  this  number,  and  then  follows  with  one  of 
the  noblest  productions  on  national  honor  which  it  has 
been  the  fortune  of  man  to  write. 

I  now  give  an  opinion  on  the  principles  of  the  Eng- 
lish constitution : 

/ 

Paine.  Junius. 

"  A  government  on  the  "  There  can  not  be  a  doc- 
principles  on  which  consti-  trine  more  fatal  to  the  lib- 
tutional  governments  aris-  erty  and  property  we  are 
ing  out  of  society  are  es-  contending  for,  than  that 
tablished,  can  not  have  the  which  confounds  the  idea 
right  of  altering  itself.  If  of  a  supreme  and  an  arbi- 
it  had,  it  would  be  arbi-  trary  legislature If 


160  JUNIUS   UNMASKED. 

trary.     It  might  make  it-  the   majority  can   disfran- 
self  what  it   pleased;   and  chise  ten  boroughs,  why  not 
whenever   such  a  right  is  twenty — why  not  the  whole 
set  up,  it  shows  that  there  kingdom?  Whyshouklnot 
is  no  constitution.    The  act  they  make  their  own  seats 
by  which  the  English  par-  in     parliament     for    life? 
liament  empowered  itself  to  When    the    septennial   act 
sit   for  seven  years,  shows  passed,  the  legislature  did 
there  is  no  constitution  in  what,  aj)parently  and  pal- 
England.    It  might,  by  the  pably,  they  had  no  power 
same    self-authority,    have  to  do." — Let.  68. 
sat  any  greater  number  of 
years,  or  for  life." — R.  of 
M.,  part  i.  • 

Although  the  above  doctrine  that  the  people,  not  the, 
legislature,  are  supreme,  is  not  new,  yet  it  was  rarely 
asserted  in  the  time  of  Paine,  and  renders  the  above 
parallel  strong  and  peculiar.  Even  the  same  language 
is  used  in  making  the  same  application  to  the  septen- 
nial act,  which  might  as  well  have  empowered  the 
members  of  parliament  to  sit /or  life. 

Here  is  a  parallel  on  the  opinion  of  the  Jobbing 
spirit  of  courtiers : 

Paine.  Junius, 

"  Every  nation  that  does  To  Draper :  "  It  would 
not  govern  itself,  is  gov-  have  been  more  decent  in 
erned  as  a  job.  England  you  to  have  called  this  dis- 
has  been  the  prey  oi'  joba  honorable  transaction  by  its 
ever  since  the  revolution."  true  name,  ^job,  to  accom- 
R.  of  M.,  part  ii,  chap,  v.,  modatctwo  })ersonsby  par- 
note,  ticular  interest  and  manage- 
ment at  the  castle.^* — 
Let.  7. 


MENTAL  CHARACTERISTICS.  161 

Both  Paine  and  Junius  frequently  give  vent  to  their 
detestation  of  gambling  and  gamblers.  A  single  case 
in  point  is  sufficient : 

Paine.  Junius. 

"  Those  who  knew  the  To  Bedford  :  "  His  own 
savage  obstinacy  of  the  honor  would  have  forbid- 
king,  and  the  jobbing,  (7am-  den  him  from  mixing  his 
bling  spirit  of  the  court,  private  pleasures  or  conver- 
predicted  the  fate  of  the  sation  with  jockeys,  game- 
petition." — Crisis,  iii.  sters,  blasphemers,   gladia- 

tors, and   buffoons." — Let. 
23.     See,  also,  Let.  14. 

They  both  have  the  same  opinion  of  the  theater ; 
but  as  the  proof  of  this  is  only  circumstantial,  I  will 
not  cumber  these  pages  with  it.  We  know  that  Paine 
was  a  Quaker  upon  this  point;  and  Junius  contempt- 
uously addresses  Garrick,  the  actor,  "  Now  mark  me, 
vagabond!  keep  to  jour  pantomimes/'  etc. 

I  now  pass  to  consider  their  religious  opinions.  And, 
first,  their  views  of  God : 

Paine.  Junius. 

"The  Almighty  hath  im-  "  Grateful  as  I  am  to  the 
planted  in  us  these  unex-  good  Being  whose  bounty 
tinguishable  feelings  for  has  imparted  to  me  this 
good  and  wise  purposes."  reasoning  intellect,"  etc. — 
— C.  S.  Let.  6S. 

'^The  country  was  the  "  They  acknowledged  the 
gift  of  Heaven,  and  God  hand  of  Providence  in  the 
alone  is  their  Lord  and  descent  of  the  crown  upon 
sovereign." — Crisis,  v.  the  head  of  a  true  Stuart." 

"From  such  men  and  [Spoken  in  irony.] — Let, 
such  masters  may  the  gra-  49. 


162  JUNIUS  UNMASKED. 

cious  hand  of  Heaven  pre-       "  If    Ihey     should     no 
serve  America/'  longer  appeal  to  the  crea- 

"The  will  of  God  hath  ture  of  the  constitution,  but 
parted  us,  and  the  deed  is  to  that  high  Being,  who 
registered  for  eternity." —  gave  them  the  rights  of 
Crisis,  V.  humanity,    whose    gifts   it 

*' Ev^en  the  distance  at  were  sacrilege  to  surrender, 
which  tlie  Almiglity  hath  let  me  ask  you  sir,"  etc. — 
placed  America  and  Eng-  Let.  35. 
land,  is  a  strong  and  notu-  "  I  do  not  scruple  to 
ral  proof  that  the  authority  affirm,  with  the  most  sol- 
of  the  one  over  the  other  emn  appeal  to  God  for  my 
was  never  the  design  of  sincerity." — Let.  68. 
Heaven.  ".The  people  also  found 

"The  reformation  was  it  necessary  to  appeal  to 
preceded  by  the  discovery  Heaven  in  their  turn." — 
of  America,  as  if  the  Al-  Let.  9. 
mighty  graciously  meant  to  "  And  if  life  be  the 
open  a  sanctuary  to  the  bounty  of  Heaven,  we 
persecuted  in  future  years,  scornfully  reject  the  noblest 
when  home  should  afford  part  of  the  gift,"  etc.-^ 
neither  friendship  nor  safe-  Let.  20. 
ty.  "If  when  the   opportu- 

"  I  am  as  confident,  as  I  nity  offers  itself  you  neg- 
am  that  God  governs  the  lect  to  do  your  duty  to 
world,  that  America  will  yourselves  and  to  posterity, 
never  be  hapj^y  till  she  gets  to  God  and  your  country," 
clear  of  foreign  dominion."  etc. — Dedication. 
— Crisis,  i. 

0£  Providence  they  further  say  : 

Paine,  Junius, 

"  But   Providence,   who      "  If  it  should  1)6  the  will 
best  knows  how  to  time  her  of  Providence  to  afflict  him 
misfortunes  as  well  as  her  with    a    domestic     misfor- 
immcdiate  favors,  chose  tiiis  tune,"  etc. — Let.  23. 
to  be  the   time,  and   who      "  The  next  is  a  most  re- 


MEN T At  CHARACTERISTICS.  163 

dare     dispute  *  it?'^ — Cri-  markable    instance   of  the 
sis,  iii.  goodness    of   Providence." 

"To  the  interposition  of  — Let.  QQ. 
Providence  and  her  bless-  "If  by  the  immediate 
ings  on  our  endeavors,  and  interposition  of  Providence 
not  to  British  benevolence  it  were  possible  for  us  to 
are  we  indebted  for  the  escape  a  crisis  so  full  of  ter- 
short  chain  that  limits  your  ror  and  despair,  posterity 
ravages." — Crisis,  vi.  will  not  believe  the  history 

"  To  deny  such  a  right  of  the  present  times." — 
would  be  a  kind  of  athe-  Let.  1. 
ism  against  nature,  and  the 
best  answer  to  such  an  ob- 
jection will  be:  ^  The  fool 
hath  said  in  his  heart  there 
is  no  God !'  " — Crisis,  iii. 

Mr.  Paine  wrote  the  Age  of  Reason  as  an  argument 
against  atheism  on  the  one  hand  and  fanaticism  on  the 
other.     This  he  says  himself. 

I  will  now  give  the  language  of  Mr.  Paine  on  relig- 
ion, infidelity,  atheism,  fanaticism,  and  morality,  and 
then  subscribe  the  language  of  Junius. 

In  his  discourse  to  the  Theophilanthropists  of  Paris, 
Mr.  Paine  says:  "Religion  has  two  principal  enemies — 
fanaticism  and  infidelity,  or  that  which  is  called  atheism. 
The  first  requires  to  be  combatted  by  reason  or  morality, 
the  other  by  natural  philosophy."  In  opposing  atheism 
he  makes  intelligent  force  the  God  of  the  universe. 
This  is  his  language :  "  God  is  the  power,  or  first  cause, 
nature  is  the  law,  and  matter  is  the  subject  acted  uponJ^ 
That  is,  there  is  a  duality  in  the  universe-^orce  and 
matter;  and  the  action  of  force  on  matter  produces  the 
laws  of  nature,  or,  every  phenomenon  is  produced  by 
11 


164  JUNIUS  UNMASKED. 

the  motion  of  matter.  He  founds  his  argument  against 
atheism  on  the  motion  of  matter,  and  elaborates  it  in  his 
clear  and  forcible  style,  and  then  says:  "  Where  will  in- 
fidelity— where  will  atheism  find  cause  fur  this  aston- 
isldng  velocity  of  motion,  never  ceasing,  never  varying, 
and  which  is  the  preservation  of  the  earth  in  its  orbit ?^ 
It  is  not  by  reasoning  from  an  acorn  to  an  oak,  or  from 
any  change  in  the  state  of  matter  on  the  surface  of  the 
earth,  that  this  can  be  accounted  for.  Its  cause  is  not  to 
be  found  in  matter j  nor  in  any  thing  we  call  nature.  The 
atheist  who  affects  to  reason,  and  the  fanatic  who  rejects 
reason,  plunge  themselves  alike  into  inextricable  diffi- 
culties. The  one  perverts  the  sublime  and  enlightening 
study  of  natural  philosophy  into  a  deformity  of  absurdi- 
ties by  not  reasoning  to  the  end,  the  other  loses  himself 
in  the  obscurity  of  metaphysical  theories,  and  dishonors 
the  Creator  by  treating  the  study  of  his  works  with 
contempt.  The  one  is  a  half-rational  of  whom  there  is 
some  hope,  the  other  is  a  visionary  to  whorii  we  must 
be  charitable." 

I  wish  the  reader  to  compare  with  the  last  sentence 
above  the  following  extracts  from  Junius,  to  be  found 
in  Letters  44  and  35  :  "The  opinions  of  these  men  are 
too  absurd  to  be  easily  renounced.  Lil>eral  minds  are 
open  to  conviction,  liberal  doctrines  are  capable  of  im- 
provement. Thc7'€  are  proselytes  from  atheism  ^  but  none 
from  superstition.*^  "  When  once  a  man  is  determined 
to  believe,  the  very  absurdity  of  the  doctrine  confirms 
him  in  his  faith." 

But  Junius,  like  Paine,  was  a  religious  man.  In 
Letter  56,  he  says:  "1  know  such  a  man;  my  lord,  I 


MEN.TAL   CHAIiACTEBLSTICS.  165 

know  you  both,  and,  with  the  blessing  of  God  (for  /, 
too,  am  religious),  the  people  of  England  shall  know 
you  as  well  as  I  do/' 

As  Mr.  Paine  has  been  misunderstood  by  the  relig- 
ious world,  and  as  so  much  has  been  said  against  his  re- 
ligion that  a  prejudice  deep  and  bitter  now  rests  on  the 
world  against  him,  I  will  give  a  couple  of  extracts  from 
his  Rights  of  Man  on  this  point.  I  confess  that  my 
own  prejudices  were  so  great  against  him  (and  I 
thought  myself  quite  liberal),  that  they  would  not  suifer 
me  to  read  his  works  till  quite  recently.  Such  is  the 
tyranny  of  religious  instruction.  The  first  extract  is 
from  the  first  part.  In  a  note,  he  says:  "There  is  a 
single  idea,  which,  if  it  strikes  rightly  upon  the- mind, 
either  in  a  legal  or  a  religious  sense,  will  prevent  any 
man,  or  any  body  of  men,  or  any  government,  from  go^ 
ing  wrong  on  the  subject  of  religion ;  which  is,  that  be- 
fore any  human  institutions  of  government  were  known 
in  the  world,  there  existed,  if  I  may  so  express  it,  a 
compact  between  God  and  man  from  the  beginning  of 
time;  and  that,  as  the  relation  and  condition  which 
man  in  his  individual  person  stands  in  toward  his 
Maker  can  not  be  changed  by  any  human  laws  or  hu- 
man authority,  that  religious  devotion,  which  is  a  part 
of  this  compact,  can  not  so  much  as  be  made  a  subject 
of  human  laws;  and  that  all  laws  must  conform  them- 
selves to  the  prior-existing  compact,  and  not  assume  to 
make  the  compact  conform  to  the  laws,  which,  besides 
being  human,  are  subsequent  thereto.  The  first  act  of 
man,  when  he  looked  around  and  saw  himself  a  crea- 
ture which  he  did  not  make,  and  a  world  furnished  for 
his  reception,  must  have  been  devotion;  and  devotion 


1G6  JtJNIUS  UNMASKED. 

must  ever  continue  sacred  to  every  individual  man,  as 
it  appears  right  to  him,  and  governments  do  mischief 
by  interfering/' 

The  next  extract  is  from  part  second,  near  its  close, 
and  I  would  call  the  attention  of  the  reader  to  the 
beauty  of  the  allegory : 

"  But  as  religion  is  very  improperly  made  a  political 
machine,  and  the  reality  of  it  is  thereby  destroyed,  I 
will  conclude  this  work  with  stating  in  what  light  re- 
ligion appears  to  me. 

"  If  we  suppose  a  large  family  of  children  on  any  par- 
ticular day,  or  particular  occasion,  made  it  a  custom  to 
present  to  their  parents  some  token  of  their  affection 
and  gratitude,  each  of  them  would  make  a  different 
offering,  and  most  probably  in  a  different  manner. 
Some  would  pay  their  congratulations  in  themes  of 
verse  and  prose,  others  by  some  little  devices,  as  their 
genius  dictated  or  according  to  what  they  thought  would 
please;  and,  perhaps,  the  least  of  all,  not  able  to  do  any 
of  those  things,  would  ramble  into  the  garden  or  the 
field  and  gather  what  it  thought  the  prettiest  flower 
it  could  find,  though  perhaps  it  might  be  but  a  sim- 
ple weed.  The  parents  would  be  more  gratified  by 
such  a  variety  than  if  the  whole  of  them  had  acted  ou 
a  concerted  plan,  and  each  had  made  exactly  the  same 
offering.  This  would  have  the  cold  appearance  of  con- 
trivance, or  the  harsh  one  of  control.  But  of  all  un- 
welcome things  nothing  would  more  afflict  the  parent 
than  to  know  that  the  whole  of  them  had  afterwards 
gotten  together  by  the  ears,  boys  and  girls,  fighting,  and 
reviling,  and  abusing  each  other  about  which  was  the 
best  or  the  worst  present. 


MENTAL  CHARACTERISTICS,  167 

"  Why  may  we  not  suppose  that  the  great  Father  of 
all  is  pleased  with  a  variety  of  devotion ;  and  that  the 
greatest  offense  we  can  act  is  that  by  which  we  seek  to 
torment  and  render  each  other  miserable?  For  my 
own  part  I  am  fully  satisfied  that  what  I  am  now  doing 
with  an  endeavor  to  conciliate  mankind,  to  render  their 
condition  happy,  to  unite  nations  that  have  hitherto 
been  eneaiies,  and  to  extirpate  the  horrid  practice  of 
war,  and  break  the  chains  of  slavery  and  oppression,  is 
estimable  in  his  sight,  and  being  the  best  service  I 
can  perform,  I  act  it  cheerfully. 

"  I  do  not  believe  that  any  two  men,  on  what  are 
called  doctrinal  points,  think  alike  who  think  at  all.^' 

[And  this,  my  reader,  is  Thomas  Paine  who  hath 
spoken.  I  would  like  to  have  Henry  Ward  Beecher, 
after  he  has  read  this  book,  take  the  above  passage  as  a 
text  and  preach  a  sermon  from  it.] 

I  now  call  attention  to  a  few  parallels : 

Paine.  Junius. 

"  A  narrow  system  of  "  Superstition  is  certainly 
politics  like  a  narrow  sys-  not  the  characteristic  of 
tem  of  religion,  is  calcu-  this  age;  yet  some  men  are 
lated  only  to  sour  the  tem-  bigoted  in  politics  who  are 
per,  and  be  at  variance  with  infidels  in  religion.^' — Let. 
mankind.'^ — Crisis,  iii.  67. 

"  Secluded     from     the 
world,   attached   from  his 
infancy  to  one  set  of  per- 
sons and  one  set  of  ideas, 
he  can  neither  open  his  heart  to  new  conifections  nor 
his  mind  to  better  information.     A  character  of  this 
sort  is  the  soil  fittest  to  produce  that  obstinate  bigotry 
in  politics  and  religion  which  begins  with  a  meritorious 


168  JUNIUS  UNMASKED, 

sacrifice  of  the  understanding  and  finally  conducts  the 
monarch  and  the  martyr  to  the  block/' — Let.  39. 

Junius  is  here  speaking  of  the  king,  who  with  a  nar- 
row understanding  would  naturally  have  a  narrow  sys- 
tem of  politics  and  religion.     But  again : 

Paine.  Junius. 

"  We  persecute  no  man,  "  The  fundamental  prin- 
neither  will  we  abet  in  the  ciples  of  Christianity  may 
persecution  of  any  man  for  still  be  ])reserved  though 
religion's  sake/' — Crisis,  iii.  every  zealous  sectary  ad- 
*'  Tlie  writer  of  this  is  heres  to  his  own  exclusive 
one  of  those  few  who  never  doctrine,  and  pious  ecclesi- 
dishonors  religion,  either  astics  make  it  part  of  their 
by  ridiculing  or  caviling  at  religion  to  persecute  one 
any  denominations  whatso-  another." — Let.  58. 
ever.  To  God  and  not  to  "  If  I  thought  Junius 
man  are  all  men  accounta-  capable  of  uttering  a  dis- 
ble  on  the  score  of  relig-  respectful  word  of  the  re- 
ion." — Eoistle  to  the  Qua-  ligion  of  his  country  I 
kers.  should   be  the  first  to  re- 

nounce and  give  him  up  to 
the  public  contempt  and 
indignation." — Let.  54. 

Above  it  is  Philo  Junius  who  is  speaking;  but 
the  reader  will  remember  he  is  the  real  Junius.  He 
had  been  attacked  for  his  impiety,  and  he  puts  Philo 
Junius  forward  to  defend  himself.  The  reader  can  not 
fail  to  notice  the  same  hand  in  the  last  parallel.  Paine 
says:  "Tlig  writer  of  this  is  one  of  tfiosefew  who  never 
dishonors  religion "  by  abusing  the  j>rofessors  of  it. 
And  he  never  did.  Junius  ridiculed  the  ceremonial 
in  llio  Catholic  Church  which  denies  the  cup  to  the 


MENTAL  CHARACTERISTICS.  169 

laiety;  and  of  this  he  says:  ^' It  is,  in  tliis  country,  as 
fair  an  object  of  ridicule  as  transubstantlation,  or  any 
other  part  of  Lord  Peter's  History  in  the  Tale  of  the 
Tub."  This  reminds  me  of  what  Paine  says  of  popery 
and  Peter :  ''A  man  hath  as  good  reason  to  believe  that 
there  is  as  much  of  kingcraft  as  priestcraft  in  with- 
holding the  scripture  from  the  public  in  popish  coun- 
tries. For  monarchy  in  every  instance  is  the  popery 
of  government." — Common  Sense.  In  regard  to  Peter, 
we  see  the  same  temptation  to  touch  his  pen  with  satire 
and  ridicule,  and  the  passage  may  be  found  in  Rights 
of  Man,  part  first.  It  is  as  follows:  "I  will  quote 
Mr.  Burke's  catalogue  of  barriers  that  he  has  set  up  be- 
tween man  and  his  maker.  Putting  himself  in  the 
character  of  a  herald,  he  says :  ^  We  fear  God  ;  we  look 
with  awe  to  kings;  with  affection  to  parliaments;  with 
duty  to  magistrates;  with  reverence  to  priests;  and 
with  respect  to  nobility.'  Mr.  Burke  has  forgot  to  put 
in  chivalry.     He  has  also  forgot  to  put  in  Peter J^ 

They  both  considered  it  true  that  there  is  a  wide 
difference  between  piety  and  morality.  Paine  himself 
says  (and  it  is  the  noblest  sentiment  ever  uttered  by 
man) :  "  My  country  is  the  world,  and  my  relig- 
ion IS  TO  DO  GOOD."  Junius  frequently  puts  piety 
and  morality  in  antithesis,  as  the  following  examples 
will  show:  ^' They  care  not  what  injustice  is  practiced 
upon  a  man  whose  moral  character  they  piously  think 
themselves  obliged  to  condemn." — Let.  39.  ^'  The  un- 
feigned piety,  the  sanctified  religion  of  George  the  Third 
have  taught  him  to  new-model  the  civil  forces  of  the 
State.    Corruption  glitters  in  the  van,^  etc.    Then,  sj^eak- 


170  JUNIUS  UNMASIfED, 

ing  of  some  of  his  predecessors,  he  says  :  "  They  were 
kings  or  gentlemen,  not  hypocrites  or  priests.  They 
were  at  the  head  of  the  Chnrch,  but  did  not  know 
the  vahie  of  their  office.  They  said  their  prayers  with- 
out ceremony,  and  had  too  little  of  priestcraft  in  their 
understanding  to  reconcile  the  sanctimonious  fonns  of 
religion  with  the  utter  destruction  of  the  morality  of  the 
people/^ — Let.  55. 

But  Mr.  Paine  was  the  inveterate  enemy  to  priest- 
craft as  well  as  kingcraft.  His  whole  life  was  spent 
in  waging  war  against  the  two.  Let  us  now  see  what 
Junius  thought,  of  the  former.  I  have  shown  him  to 
run  parallel  with  Mr.  Paine  in  the  latter. 

Junius  says :  "  The  resentment  of  a  priest  is  impla- 
cable: no  sufferings  can  soften;  no  penitence  can  a{>- 
pease/^ — Let.  53.  In  speaking  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Home, 
he  says:  "No,-  my  lord;  it  was  the  solitary,  vindic- 
tive malice  of  a  monk,  brooding  over  the  infirmities 
of  his  friends,  until  he  thought  they  quickened  into 
public  life,  and  feasting  with  a  rancorous  rapture  upon 
the  sordid  catalogue  of  his  distresses.  Now  let  him  go 
back  to  his  cloister.  The  Church  is  a  proper  retreat 
for  him  ;  in  his  principles  he  is  already  a  bishup. 
The  mention  of  this  man  has  moved  me  from  my  nat- 
ural moderation.^' — Let.  49.     Again  : 

"  The  priesthood  are  accused  of  misinterpreting  the 
scriptures.  Mr.  Home  has  improved  on  his  professiea. 
He  alters  the  text,  and  creates  a  refutable  doctrine  of 
his  own.*' — Let.  63. 

The  above  passages  can  not  be  mistaken  for  Mr. 
Painc's  spirit,  style,  and  language.     These  tell  us  tlipy 


MENTAL  CHARACTERISTICS.  171 

are  his  with  much  more  truth  than  a  name  attached  to 
any  writing  tells  us  its  author. 

It  seems  they  both  had  the  same  opinion  of  a  Meth- 
odist: 

Paine.  Junius, 

''  But  when  he  [man]  "  You  meanly  evaded 
multiplies  his  creed  with  the  question,  and,  instead 
imaginary  things,  he  forces  of  the  explicit  firmness  and 
his  mind,  and  pretends  to  decision  of  a  king,  gave  us 
believe  what  he  does  not  nothing  but  the  misery  of 
believe.  This  is,  in  gen-  a  ruined  grazier,  and  the 
eral,  the  case  with  the  whining  piety  of  a  Method- 
Methodists — their  religion  istJ^ — Let.  36. 
is  all  creed  and  no  mor- 
als.''—Let.  to  Mr.  Dean. 

Now  the  reader  will  recall  the  parallel  I  gave  in  re- 
gard to  never  dishonoring  religion  by  saying  any  thing 
against  particular  forms  or  denominations.  With  the 
exception  of  the  Catholic  Church,  this  is  the  only  in- 
stance whiqh  has  fallen  under  my  eye ;  and  it  seems 
they  had  such  a  disliking  to  Methodism,  a  sarcasm  must 
be  let  loose  upon  it.  Trifling  as  this  instance  may 
seem,  there  is  great  force  in  its  being  solitary,  and  ap- 
parently contradictory  to  what  they  both  before  affirmed 
in  general.  Such  an  instance  has,  in  fact,  more  weight 
than  a  score  of  parallels  on  common  characteristics,  for 
it  shows  a  peculiar  and  strong  bias  in  a  particular  di- 
rection. 

Of  the  term  Christian  there  is  no  positive  ground  for 
a  parallel,  because  it  is  one  of  no  definite  meaning.  We 
call  ourselves,  as  a  nation,  Christians;  yet  we  are  di- 


172  JUNIUS  UNMASKED. 

vided  into  a  hundred  forms  of  religion,  and  many  of 
them  in  the  articles  of  faith  contradictory  and  antago- 
nistic. Yet,  in  the  fundamental  2)rinciples  of  morality, 
we  are,  in  common  with  all  civilized  races,  agreed.  The 
Christian  religion  happens  to  belong  to  the  highest  civi- 
lization, and  we  frequently  use  the  term  as  synonymous 
with  the  nwrality  of  this  civilization.  But  when  we 
come  to  define  strictly  according  to  the  theological  im- 
port of  the  word,  there  are  many  of  us  who  are  not 
Christians.  In  the  former  sense,  Air.  Paine  and  Junius 
Were  Christians ;  in  the  latter  sense,  they  were  not. 
And  now  for  the  proof.  Junius  says,  in  Letter  15,  to 
the  Duke  of  Grafton:  "It  is  not,  indeed,  the  least  of 
tlie  thousand  contradictions  which  attend  you,  that  a 
man  marked  to  the  world  by  the  grossest  violation  of 
ceremony  and  decorum,  should  be  the  first  servant  of  a 
court  in  which  jjrayers  are  moraliti/y  and  kneeling  is  relig- 
ion.'^ For  this,  and  his  attacks  on  the  priesthood,  and 
his  frequently  putting  piety  in  antithesis  to  morality,  he 
was  at  last  accused  of  being  an  inn)ious  and  irreligious 
man.  He  now  puts  Philo  Junius  forwanJ  to  explain 
his  religious  views,  who  says,  in  Letter  54:  "These 
candid  critics  never  remember  any  thing  he  says  in 
honor  of  our  holy  religion,  though  it  is  true  that  one  of 
his  leading  arguments  is  made  to  rest  *  upon  the  intenud 
evidence  which  the  |)urest  of  all  religions  carries  with 
it.'  I  quote  his  words,  and  conclude  from  them  that 
he  is  a  true  and  hearty  Christian — in  subtitancef  not  in 
ceremony — though  })ossibly  he  may  not  agree  with  my 
reverend  lords  the  bishops,  or  with  the  head  of  the 
Church,  *  that  prayers  are  morality,  or  that  kneeling  is 
reliixion.' " 


MENTAL  CHARACTERISTICS.  173 

That  is,  Junius  was  a  Christian  who,  upon  moral 
principles,  did  not  say  his  prayers,  and  who  thought 
that  forms  were  no  part  of  religion.  In  other  words, 
if  the  highest  morality  was  Christianity,  he  claimed  to 
be  a  Christian,  and  would  not  stoop  "to  reconcile  the 
sanctimonious  forms  of  religion  with  the  utter  destruc- 
tion of  morality." 

This,  too,  was  Mr.  Paine's  Christianity.  In  a  na- 
tional and  moral  sense  he  uses  the  term  with  approba- 
tion, but  when  in  a  theological  sense  he  disowns  it.  He 
says,  in  Crisis,  ii:  "This  ingratitude  may  suit  a  tory, 
or  the  unchristian  peevishness  of  a  fallen  Quaker,  but 
none  else."  In  Crisis,  i,  he  says:  "I  wish,  with  all  the 
devotion  of  a  Christian,  that  the  names  of  whig  and 
tory  may  never  more  be  mentioned."  To  the  Quakers 
he  says :  "  Call  not  coldness  of  soul  religion,  nor  put 
the  bigot  in  the  place  of  the  Christian. ^^  In  Common 
Sense  he  says :  "  For  myself,  I  fully  and  conscientiously 
believe  that  it  is  the  will  of  the  Almighty  that  there 
should  be  a  diversity  of  religious  opinions  among  us. 
It-  affords  a  larger  field  for  our  Christian  kintlness." 
And  again  :  "  This  new  world  hath  been  the  asylum  for 
the  persecuted  lovers  of  civil  and  religious  liberty  from 
every  part  of  Europe.  ,  .  .  In  this  extensive  quar- 
ter of  the  globe,  we  forget  the  narrow  limits  of  three 
hundred  and  sixty  miles  (the  extent  of  England),  and 
carry  our  friendshi])  on  a  larger  scale ;  we  claim  broth- 
erhood with  every  European  Christian,  and  triumph  in 
the  generosity  of  the  se7itiment.^^ 

The  above  are  a  few  of  the  many  passages  in  which 
he  indorses  Christianity.  But  Christian  here  means 
only  its  moral  phase  or  principles,  and  these  principles 


174  JUNIUS  UNMASKED. 

exalted  by  the  feeling  of  universal  brotherhood.  But 
in  a  theological  sense  he  uses  the  term  very  differently, 
and  by  keeping  this  fact  in  view,  he  is  readily  under- 
stood, and  there  is  only  the  contradiction  which  the  use 
of  the  word  by  common  consent  carries  with  it.  In 
the  Age  of  Reason,  Conclusion,  he  says:  "Of  all  the 
systems  of  religion  that  ever  were  invented  there  is 
none  more  derogatory  to  the  Almighty,  more  unedify- 
ing  to  man,  more  repugnant  to  reason,  and  more  con- 
tradictory in  itself,  than  this  thing  called  Christianity." 

They  both  had  the  same  views  of  Jesus.  Mr.  Paine 
says  in  the  Age  of  Reason,  part  i :  "  Nothing  that  is 
here  said  can  apply,  even  with  the  most  distant  disre- 
spect, to  the  real  character  of  Jesus  Christ.  He  was 
a  virtuous  and  amiable  man.  The  morality  that  he 
preached  and  practiced  was  of,  the  most  benevolent 
kind ;  and  though  similar  systems  of  morality  had  been 
preached  by  Confucius  and  by  some  of  the  Greek  phi- 
losophers many  years  before,  and  by  the  Quakers  since, 
and  by  many  good  men  in  all  ages,  it  has  not  been  ex- 
ceeded by  any He  preached  most  excellent 

morality,  and  the  equality  of  man;  but  he  preached 
also  against  the  corruptions  and  avarice  of  the  Jewish 
priests,  and  this  brought  upon  him  the  hatred  and 
vengeance  of  the  whole  order  of  the  priesthood."  And 
between  the  Romans  and  the  Jews  "  this  virtuous  re- 
former and  revolutionist  lost  his  life." 

Junius,  near  the  close  of  his  last  letter  but  one,  boklly 
affirms  Jesus  a  nian.  He  says:  "The  holy  author  of 
our  religion  was  seen  in  the  company  of  sinners,  but  it 
was  his  gracious  purpose  to  convert  them  from  their 


MENTAL  CIIAItACl\EIUISTICS.  I75 

sins;  Another  man  [the -king],  who,  in  the  ceremonies 
of  our  faith,  might  give  lessons  to  the  great  enemy  of 
it  [the  devil]  upon  different  principles,  keeps  much  the 
same  company." 

Neither  Mr.  Paine  nor  Junius  were  superstitious. 
And  first  of  Paine.  In  Crisis,  i,  he  says:  '^  I  have  as 
little  superstition  in  me  as  any  man  living,  but  my 
secret  opinion  has  ever  been,  and  still  is,  that  God  Al- 
mighty will  not  give  up,  to  military  destruction,  a  peo- 
ple,^^  etc. 

Junius  says,  in  Letter  36,  note :  "  Every  coward  pre- 
tends to  be  planet-struck."  And  in  Letter  49,  satir- 
izing Lord  Bute,  he  says :  "  When  that  noxious  planet 
approaches  England,  he  never  fails  to  bring  plague  and 
pestilence  along  with  him.",  In  Letter  67  he  says: 
"  Superstition  is  certainly  not  the  characteristic  of  this 
age;  yet  some  men  are  bigoted  in  politics  who  are 
infidels  in  religion.  I  do  not  despair  of  making  them 
ashamed  of  their  credulity." 

Above,  Junius  also  casts  an  aspersion  upon  the  term 
infidel.  Mr.  Paine  was  very  tender  upon  this  point, 
and  could  not  bear  to  be  taunted  with  infidelity.  He 
says  :  '^  Infidelity  is  believing  falsely.  If  what  Chris- 
tians believe  is  not  true,  it  is  the  Christians  that  are 
the  infidels." — Remarks  on  R.  HalPs  sermon.  In  the 
Examination  of  the  Prophecies,  he  concludes  with 
this  sentence,  emphasized  as  follows:  ^^He  that  be- 
lieves IN  THE  STOEY  OF  ChRIST,  IS  AN  INFIDEL  TO 

God."  He  also  defines  infidelity  as  being  unfaithful  to 
one's  own  convictions.     In  the  Age  of  Reason,  part  i. 


176  JUNIUS  UNMASKED. 

he  says:  "Infidelity  consists  in  professing  to  believe 
what  he  does  not  believe."  He  also  uses  the  word  as 
synonymous  with  atheist,  in  his  Discourse  to  the  Thco- 
philanthropists,  as  will  be  seen  by  reference  to  page  163 
of  this  book. 

I  have  heretofore  given  the  views  of  Junius  on  Prayer, 
See  page  172.  It  now  remains  to  give  Mr.  Paine's  views. 
In  his  Letter  to  Samuel  Adams  he  says :  "A  man  does 
not  serve  God  when  he  prays,  for  it  is  himself  he  is  try- 
ing to  serve;  and  as  to  hiring  or  paying  men  to  pray, 
as  if  the  Deity  needed  instruction,  it  is,  in  my  opinion, 
an  abomination." 

They  both  believe  in  the  divine  justice  of  retribu- 
tion and  future  punishment.  Junius  says:  "The  di- 
vine justice  of  retribution  seems  now  to  have  begun  its 
progress.  Deliberate  treachery  entails  punishment  upon 
the  traitor.  There  is  no  possibility  of  escaping  it." — 
Let.  ijQ.  "A  death-bed  repentance  seldom  reaches  to 
restitution." — Dedication. 

Mr.  Paine  says,  in  Crisis,  ii,  to  Lord  Howe:  "  How 
many  you  have  thus  privately  sacrificed  we  know  not, 
and  the  account  can  only  be  settled  in  another  world." 
And  in  Crisis,  v,  to  the  same  man,  he  says:  "You  may, 
perhaps,  be  unwilling  to  be  serious,  but  this  destruction 
of  the  goods  of  Providence,  tliis  havoc  of  the  human 
race,  and  this  sowing  the  world  with  mischief,  must  be 
accounted  for  to  him  who  made  and  governs  it." 

But  I  will  give  a  positive  affirmation  of  the  fact.  Irt 
the  Age  of  Reason,  near  the  close  of  the  Second  Part, 
he  says:  "The  existence  of  an  Almighty  power  is  suf- 


MENTAL  CHARACTERISTICS.  I77 

ficlently  demonstrated  to  us We  must  know, 

also,  that  the  power  that  called  us  into  being  can,  if  he 
pleases,  and  when  he  pleases,  call  us  to  account  for  the 
manner  in  which  we  have  lived  here;  and  therefore, 
without  seeking  any  other  motive  for  the  belief,  it  is 
rational  to  believe  that  he  will,  for  we  know  before- 
hand that  he  can The  probability  that  we  may 

be  called  to  account  hereafter,  will,  to  a  reflecting  mind, 
have  the  influence  of  belief;  for  it  is  not  our  belief  or 
unbelief  that  can  make  or  unmake  the  fact.  As  this  is 
the  state  we  are  in,  and  which  it  is  proper  we  should  be 
in,  as  free  agents,  it  is  the  fool  only,  and  not  the  phi- 
losopher or  even  the  prudent  man,  that  would  live  as 
if  there  were  no  God/^ 

Religiously,  he  can  quite  properly  be  classed  with 
Theodore  Parker.  He  stands  close  at  his  side,  and, 
having  preceded  him,  a  shoulder  higher.  Yet,  in  this 
regard,  Mr.  Parker  treats  him  with  contempt. 

The  reader  will  be  pleased  to  read  the  following 

letters ;  the  one  from  Horace  Seaver  to  Mr.  Parker, 

and  the  reply  : 

Boston,  January  11,  1843. 

Rev.  and  Dear  Sir: — As  chairman  of  the  com- 
mittee of  arrangement  for  the  celebration  of  Thomas 
Paine's  birth-day  in  this  city,  on  the  30th  instant,  I  am 
instructed  to  perform  the  highly  pleasing  duty  of  so- 
liciting the  honor  of  your  company  at  the  dinner;  and 
to  say  to  you  in  addition,  that  it  would  give  the  com- 
mittee great  pleasure,  as  well  as  many  others  of  your 
personal  friends,  if  your  health  and  time  will  allow 
you  to  comply  with  this  invitation. 

I  am,  very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

Horace  Seaver. 


178  JUNIUS  UNMASKED. 

West  Roxbury,  January  14,  1843. 

Dear  Sir: — Your  favor  of  the  11th  instant  came 
in  my  absence  from  home,  and  I  now  hasten  to  reply 
to  the  invitation  you  offer  me.  With  the  views  I  en- 
tertain of  Mr.  Paine's  character  in  his  later  years,  I 
could  not,  consistently  with  my  own  sense  of  duty, 
join  with  you  in  celebrating  his  birth-day.  I  feel 
grateful,  truly  so,  for  the  services  rendered  by  his  po- 
litical writings,  and  his  practical  efforts  in  the  cause 
of  freedom ;  though  with  what  I  understand  to  be  the 
spirit  of  his  writings  on  theology  and  religion,  I  have 
not  the  smallest  sympathy. 

I  am,  respectfully, 

Your  obedient  servant, 

Theodore  Parker. 

This  is  one  arch-heretic  trampling  on  his  brother  in 
the  holy  name  of  religion.  Yet  the  great  work  which 
Thomas  Paine  performed  before  Mr.  Parker  was  con- 
ceived in  the  womb  of  Time,  made  a  Theodore  Parker 
possible.  Parker  stood  on  the  shoulders  of  Thomas 
Paine,  and  he  uttered  scarcely  a  thought  on  religion 
and  theology  which  Mr.  Paine  had  not  written  before 
him.  ]Mr.  Parker  translated  DeWette,  but  Mr.  Paine's 
second*  part  of  the  Age  of  Reason,  as  an  original 
investigation  and  critical  examination  of  the  Bible, 
will  be  read  when  Parker's  translation  of  DeWette 
is  forgotten.  The  latter  is  a  scholar's  effort,  dry, 
voluminous,  costly,  and  soon  to  be  laid  away  forever; 
the  former,  a  friend's  offering  to  mankind,  brought 
within  the  reach  of  their  understanding  and  their 
means.  As  an  argument  it  has  never  been  equaknl ;  as 
a  theological  work  it  is  fair  and  candid;  as  a  religious 
work  it  breathes  the  spirit  of  forbearance,   kindness, 


MENTAL   CHABACTEMISTICS.  I79 

morality,  and  brotherly  love.  I  have  searched  in  vain 
to  find  the  authority  for  Mr.  Parker's  religious  hatred 
to  Thomas  Paine.  They  taught  the  same  morality  and 
religion,  the  same  theology,  the  same  retributive  jus- 
tice, and  denounced  boldly  the  same  errors  in  politics 
and  religion;  and  differed  only  in  this  that  Mr.  Par- 
ker said  his  prayers  in  public,  and  Mr.  Paine  in  private. 
The  hatred  to  Mr.  Paine  is  perhaps  inherited,  and.  we 
stand  in  awe  of  him  as  of  the  devil,  without  a  reason 
and  without  knowing  why.  The  Egyptian  children 
still  startle  at  the  name  of  ^'  Bonaparte/'  the  American 
children  at  the  name  of  Thomas  Paine;  and  Mr.  Par,- 
ker  never  outgrew  this  superstition  of  his  youth.  But 
the  historian  may  safely  record  :  Without  Thomas  Painey 
there  would  have  been  no  Theodore  Parker. 

The  reader  can  not  fail  to  see  the  substantial  elements 
of  the  Quaker  character  in  Junius,  if  we  let  Mr.  Paine 
define  it.  In  the  Age  of  Reason,  second  part,  he  says : 
''^  The  only  sect  that  has  not  persecuted  are  the  Qua- 
kers, and  the  only  reason  that  can  be  given  for  it  is, 
that  they  are  rather  Deists  than  Christians.  They  do 
not  believe  much  about  Jesus  Christ,  and  they  call  the 
Scriptures  a  dead  letter." 

The  Quakers  have  no  priesthood.  With  them  the 
power  to  teach  is  the  immediate  gift  of  God,  and  they 
speak  as  they  are  moved  by  the  Spirit,  and  what  they 
say  is  by  the  inspiration  of  the  inner  light.  They  have 
neither  pulpit  nor  church,  and  in  their  meeting  there 
is  neither  ceremony  nor  song,  nor  the  dull  routine  of 
stated  prayers.  They  oppose  war,  slavery,  intemper- 
ance, litigation,  extravagance,  profanity,  and  priest- 
12 


180  JUNIUS  UNMASKED. 

craft.  Dancing  and  dressing  in  the  fashion  of  the  day 
they  forbid.  Their  religion  consists  in  morality ;  not 
in  ceremony  and  show.  They  hate  a  bishoj)  as  they 
hate  a  tyrant,  and  they  hold  an  honest  man  the  noblest 
work  of  God.  What  could  be  more  like  Junius  than 
this?  But  if  this  does  not  satisfy  the  reader  the  evi- 
dence of  Junius  himself  would  have  little  weight.  But 
he  positively  affirms  the  principles  of  the  Quakers  as 
the  true  religion,  and  this  ought  to  satisfy  the  most 
doubtful.  At  the  close  of  Letter  41,  he  says:  "An 
honest  man,  like  the  true  religion^  aj)pea|s  to  the  under- 
standing, or  modestly  confides  in  the  iiitemal  evidences 
of  his  conscience.  The  impostor  employs /o?'ce  instead 
of  argument,  imposes  silence  when  he  can  not  convince, 
and  propagates  his  character  by  the  sword"  This 
proves  Junius  to  be  a  Quaker,  in  principle.  No  one 
can  mistake  the  expression  :  "  The  internal  evidences 
of  the  conscience,"  which  often  comes  so  forcibly  from 
Junius.  And  says  Paine  also :  "As  for  morality,  the 
knowledge  of  it  exists  in  every  man's  conscience." 
Were  an  artist  called  upon  to  produce  a  picture  of 
Junius'  moral,  political,  and  religious  character,  he 
could  give  no  shade  or  stroke  which  he  could  not  find 
full  and  distinct  in  the  living  character  of  Mr.  Paine. 
Although  Thomas  Paine  was  not  a  professed  Quaker, 
yet  the  rigid  Quaker  principles  of  moral  conduct  spoke 
out  in  every  action  ;  and  while  he  did  not  spare  their 
errors,  he  spoke  highly  of  them  as  a  sect.  He  chas- 
tised them  with  an  unsparing  hand,  but  it  was  in 
friendship,  not  in  revenge.  He  loved  their  austere 
worship,  he  sought  their  society,  he  walked  in  their 
ways,  and  often   paid  them  a  tribute  of  praise.     In 


MENTAL   CIARACTERISTICS.  181 

short,  by  birth  he  was  a  Quaker,  but  by  profession  not. 
He  was  himself,  an  original  man  thrown  out  upon 
earth,  born  for  a  purpose,  which  he  fulfilled. 

But  the  moral  character  of  Junius  was  the  same; 
he  proves  it  so  in  a  hundred  differ'ent  ways ;  in  his 
pride  of  character,  in  his  love  of  justice,  in  his  sympa- 
thies for  the  people,  in  his  declaration  of  human  rights, 
in  the  austerity  of  his  morals,  in  his  faith  in  the  inte- 
rior evidence  of  the  conscience,  in  his  hatred  to  bad 
men  and  bad  measures,  in  his  moral  courage  to  attack 
the  strongholds  of  political  corruption.  No  one  but  a 
man  having  a  double  portion  of  Quaker  principles  and 
Quaker  spirit  could  talk  as  did  Junius  to  the  king, 
unmasking  him  before  the  public,  and  exposing  his 
weakness,  wickedness,  folly,  and  stupidity.  And 
herein  nature  comes  powerfully  in  to  my  aid  in  my 
argument.  In  fact,  it  is  my  only  object  to  trace  the 
lines  of  argument  which  nature  has  drawn,  and  never 
to  descend  to  art. 

Says  Mr.  Paine :  "  It  sometimes  happens,  as  well  in 
writing  as  in  conversation,  that  a  person  lets  slip  an 
expression  that  serves  to  unravel  what  he  intends  to 
conceal.^^  I  will  take  him  at  his  word  and  quote  two 
short  passages  of  his  own,  giving  a  few  strokes  of  his 
personal  history :  ^^  If  I  have  anywhere  expressed  my- 
self over- warmly,  'tis  from  a  fixed,  immovable  hatred 
I  have,  and  ever  had,  to  cruel  men  and  cruel  meas- 
ures. I  have  likewise  an  aversion  to  monarchy,  as 
being  too  debasing  to  the  dignity  of  man,  but  I  never 
troubled  others  with  my  notions  till  very  lately,  nor  ever 
published  a  syllable  in  England  in  my  life.     What  I 


182  JUNIUS  UNMASKED. 

write  is  pure  nature,  and  my  pen  and  my  soul  have 
ever  gone  together.  My  writings  I  have  always  given 
away,  reserving  only  the  expense  of  printing  and 
paper,  and  sometimes  not  even  that.  I  never  courted 
either  fame  or  interest,  and  my  manner  of  life,  to  those 
who  know  it,  will  justify  what  I  say.  My  study  is  to 
be  useful.^' 

The  above  was  thrown  into  the  body  of  Crisis,  ii, 
iand  addressed  to  Lord  Howe.  Let  us  examine  its  sep- 
arate counts: 

I.  "  Hatred  to  cruel  men  and  cruel  measures."  See 
ion  this  head  the  haired  of  Junius  to  the  tyrant  in  any 
form,  to  the  "  hoary  lecher,"  Lord  Irnham,  to  the 
"monsters'^  of  the  house  of  Bedford,  and  the  "worst 
man  in  the  kingdom,"  Lord  Mansfield. 

II.  "  An  aversion  to  monarchy,  as  being  too  debas- 
ing to  the  dignity  of  man."  This  is  the  key-note  to 
Junius. 

IIL  "Never  troubled  others  with  my  notions  till 
very  lately."  This  was  dated  January  13,  1777,  just 
one  year  after  Common  Sense,  and  just  five  years 
after  the  last  Letter  of  Junius.  Very  lately  is  an  indefi- 
nite expression,  and  is  meant  to  pave  the  way  for  the 
next,  which  was  designed  to  mislead  the  unwary,  aiid 
here  we  see  unmistakable  evidence  of  Junius. 

IV.  "  I  never  jmhUshed  a  syllable  in  England  in  my 
life."  When  Woodfull  was  prosecuted  for  publishing 
Junius'  Letter  to  the  king,  the  jury  found  him  "guilty 
of  publUhhu/  07ily"  Then  Junius,  whoever  he  was, 
never  published  a  syllable  of  the  Letters.  But  Mr. 
Paine  wrote  a  pamphlet,  "The  Case  of  the  Excise 
Officers,"  while  in  England,  and  it  was  published  by  a 


MENTAL   eilARACTERISTICS.  183 

Mr.  Lee.  To  the  untliinking,  the  sentence:  "I  never 
published  a  syllable  in  England  in  my  life,"  would  be 
proof  at  first  that  he  never  wrote  for  the  press,  but  a 
moment's  thought  will  show  it  to  be  an  innocent  sub- 
terfuge. But  why  this  subterfuge,  if  Mr.  Paine  was 
not  Junius,  and  he  had  not  yet  a  work  to  perform  in 
England?  If  not  Junius,  what  is  the  meaning  of  it? 
Why  did  he  say  it  ?     The  reader  must  answer. 

V.  "  My  writings  I  have  always  given  away."  Ju- 
nius gave  to  Mr.  Woodfall  the  whole  of  his  Letters, 
See  his  Preface. 

VI.  ^*  I  never  courted  either  fame  or  interest."  Says 
Junius :  "  To  w^rite  for  profit,  without  taxing  the  press ; 
to  write  for  fame  and  be  unknown;  to  support  the  in- 
trigues of  faction,  and  be  disowned  by  every  party  in 
the  kingdom,  are  contradictions,"  etc.  That  is,  he  was 
charged  with  writing  for  fame  and  interest,  and  he 
thus  contradicts  it. 

YII.  "  What  I  write  is  pure  nature."  Thus,  Junius 
says :  "  The  works  of  a  master  require  no  index,  his 
features  and  coloring  are  taken  from  nature;"  and  a 
hundred  other  examples  could  be  given. 

YIII.  *'  My  study  is  to  be  useful."  Thus  also  Ju- 
nius :  "Is  there  no  merit  in  dedicating  my  life  to  the 
information  of  my  fellow-subjects?  He  is  not  paid 
for  his  labor,  and  certainly  has  a  right  to  choose  his 
employment." 

It  is  thus  I  could  take  every  statement  of  Thomas 
Paine,  either  of  previous  life,  private  purpose,  or  pub- 
lic principle,  and  find  its  counterpart  in  Junius.  This 
could  not  be  done  were  not  the  two  characters  the 
same  person.     Take  again,  for  example,  the  statement 


184  JUNIUS  UNMASKED. 

in  Crisis,  xv.  Speaking  of  the  part  he  took  in 
the  revohition,  he  says  : 

I.  "  So  far  as  my  endeavors  could  go,  they  have  all  been 
directed  to  conciliate  the  affections,  unite  the  interests, 
and  draw  and  keep  the  mind  of  the  country  together; 
(II)  and  the  better  to  assist  in  this  foundation  work  of 
the  revolution,  I  have  avoided  all  places  of  profit  or 
office,  either  in  the  State  I  live  in  or  in  the  United 
States,  kept  myself  at  a  distance  from  all  parties  and 
party  connections,  and  even  disregarded  all  private  and 
inferior  concerns ;  and  when  we  take  into  view  the  great 
work  which  we  have  gone  through,  and  feel,  as  we 
ought  to  feel,  the  first  importance  of  it,  we  shall  then 
see  that  the  little  wranglings  and  indecent  contentions 
of  personal  parley  are  as  dishonorable  to  our  characters 
as  they  are  injurious  to  our  purpose.  (Ill)  It  was  the 
cause  of  America  that  made  me  an  author.  The  force 
with  which  it  struck  my  mind,  and  the  dangerous  con- 
dition the  country  appeared  to  me  in,  by  courting  an 
ini})ossible  and  unnatural  reconciliation  with  those  who 
were  determined  to  reduce  her,  instead  of  striking  out 
into  the  only  line  that  could  cement  and  save  her — A 
Declaration  of  Independence — made  it  imjwssible 
for  me,  feeling  as  I  did,  to  be  silent :  (IV)  and  if  in  the 
course  of  more  than  seven  years  I  have  rendered  her  any 
service,  I  have  likewise  added  something  to  the  reputa- 
tion of  literature,  by  freely  and  disinterestedly  employ- 
ing it  in  the  great  cause  of  mankind,  and  showing  that 
there  may  be  genius  without  prostitution." 

Compare  now  the  above  with  Junius,  as  follows: 
I.  "  It  is  time  for  those  who  really  mean  the  Ckiiise  and 
the  People,  who  have  no  view  to  private  advantage,  and 


MENTAL  CHARACTERISTICS.  185 

who  have  virtue  enough  to  prefer  the  general  good  of 
the  community  to  the  gratification  of  personal  animos- 
ities: it  is  time  for  such  men  to  interpose.  Let  us  try 
whether  these  fatal  dissensions  may  not  yet  be  reconciled, 
or  if  that  be  impracticable,  let  us  guard  at  least  against 
the  worst  effects  of  division,  and  endeavor  to  persuade 
these  furious  partisans,  if  they  will  not  consent  to  draw 
together,  to  be  separately  useful  to  that  cause  which 
they  all  pretend  to  be  attached  to."  II.  "To  write  for 
profit  without  taxing  the  press,  to  write  for  fame  and 
to  be  unknown,  to  support  the  intrigues  of  factions  and 
to  be  disowned  as  a  dangerous  auxiliary  by  every  party 
in  the  kingdom  are  contradictions  which  the  minister 
must  reconcile  before  I  forfeit  my  credit  with  the  public.'^ 
III.  "It  was  the  cause  of  America  that  made  me  an 
author,"  says  Paine.  This  is  true  of  Junius ;  for  the 
troubles  which  called  him  forth  are  well  known  to  be 
those  of  America.  But  he  would  never  have  been 
known,  perhaps,  had  he  not  written  Common  Sensey 
which  was  published  anonymously,  and  was  at  first  at- 
tributed to  Benjamin  Franklin.  lY.  "The  reputation 
of  these  papers  is  an  honorable  pledge  for  my  attach- 
ment to  the  people  ....  These  letters,  my  lord,  are 
read  in  other  countries  and  in  other  languages.  For 
my  own  part,  I  claim  no  merit  from  endeavoring  to  do 
a  service  to  my  fellow-subjects.  I  have  done  it  to  the 
best  of  my  understanding,  and  without  looking  for  the 
approbation  of  other  men,  my  conscience  is  satisfied." 


1^  JUNIUS  UNMASKED. 


EEVIEW. 


Let  us  now  retrace  our  steps,  and  see  how  strong  a 
case  is  made  out. 

1.  Twelve  facts  in  the  life  of  Mr.  Paine  shown  to  be 
the  same  as  those  in  Junius. 

2.  An  apparent  contradiction  proven  to  be  a  parallel 
fact. 

3.  They  both  represent  Quaker  principles. 

4.  They  have  the  same  views  of  conscience. 

6.  Both  believe  in  the  divine  justice  of  retribution. 

6.  Both  believe  in  future  punishment. 

7.  Both  luive  the  same  views  of  prayer. 

8>  Both  have  the  same  dislike  to  the  word  infidel. 
9.  Both  have  the  same  opinion  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth. 

10.  Both  have  the  same  views  of  Christianity. 

11.  Both  use  the  term  Christian  the  same. 

12.  Both  had  a  special  dislike  to  Methodism. 

13.  Both  were  inveterate  enemies  to  jiriestcraft. 

14.  Both  made  a  wide  difference  between  piety  and 
morality. 

15.  Both  had  the  same  views  of  the  Catholic  faith. 

16.  Both  ridiculed  "Peter." 

17.  Both  affirmed  that  they  did  not  persecute  for  re- 
ligious o])inion. 

18.  Both  hated  a  narrow  system  in  politics  or  re- 
ligion. 

19.  Both  had  the  same  views  of  "religion." 

20.  Both  had  the  same  views  of  su|)crstition. 

21.  Both  had  the  same  views  of  atheism, 

22.  Both  had  the  same  views  of  providence. 


REVIEW.  187 

23.  Both  had  the  same  views  of  the  theater. 
-  24.  Both  detested  gamblers  and  gambling. 

25.  Both  had  the  same  opinion  of  the  English  Con- 
stitution. 

26.  Both  were  extremely  cautious. 

27.  Both  were  extremely  politic. 

28.  Both  loved  method. 

29.  Both  evinced  the  same  kind  of  method  in  writing. 

30.  Both  had  the  same  views  of  the  origin  of  mil- 
itary governments. 

31.  Both  had  the  same  views  of  party  politics. 

32.  Neither  would  take  part  in  party  politics. 

33.  Both  had  the  same  pride  of  character. 

34.  Both  had  the  same  views  of  the  English  army. 

35.  Both  loved  free  thought. 

36.  Both  thought  alike  of  suspicion.  « 

37.  Both  expressed  the  same  views  of  antagonism. 

38.  Both  placed  personal  interest  above  strict  moral 
right. 

39.  Both  thought  alike  of  oaths. 

40.  They  had  the  same  opinion  of  courts  and  courtiers. 

41.  They  considered  the  termination  of  the  Seven 
Years'  War  a  distinguished  period,  and  dated  the  mis- 
fortunes and  establishment  of  tyranny  in  England  from 
that  period. 

42.  They  both  had  the  same  opinion  of  Lord  North. 

43.  Both  had  the  same  opinion  of  Lord  Mansfield. 

44.  Both  had  the  same  views  of  precedent. 

45.  Both  had  the  same  opinion  of  lawyers. 

46.  Both  had  the  same  views  of  the  cause  of  America. 

47.  Both  had  the  same  views  of  the  minority  in 
England. 


188  JUNIUS  UNMASKED. 

48.  And  herein  the  same  views  of  Lord  Chatham. 

49.  Both  traced  the  rights  of  man   back  to  their 
origin. 

50.  Both  express  themselves  alike  in  regard  tx>  laws 
in  general. 

51.  Both  express  themselves  alike  in  regard  to  the 
game  law. 

52.  Both  declare  law  to  be  king. 

53.  Tliey  had  the  same  predilections  in  regard  to 
politics. 

54.  They  were  neither  of  them  partisans. 

55.  They  were  both  practical. 

56.  Both  often  appealed  to  experience  and  the  evi- 
dence of  facts. 

57.  Both  assert  the  mind  becomes  what  it  contem- 
plates. 

58.  Both  were  deeply  read  in  the  ^'history  of  the  hvr 
man  heart. '^ 

59.  Both  delight  in  charging  bastardy. 

60.  Secretiveness  was  a  ruling  characteristic. 

61.  Both  had  the  same  opinion  of  moderate  men. 

62.  Tliey  were  both  enthusiasts. 

63.  Both  were  too  proud  to  be  vain  or  to  flatter. 

64.  Both  placed  too  high  an  estimate  on  the  judg- 
ment of  the  masses. 

65.  Both  were  excessively  hopeful. 

66.  Personal  honor  unparalleled  in  history. 

67.  Both  express  themselves  alike  in  regard  to  av- 
arice and  the  miser. 

68.  lioth  often  assert  that  "  language  fails." 

69.  Both  have  the  same  method  of  argumentation, 
and  hereunder  many  parallels  are  given. 


MEVIEW.  189 

70.  Both  have  the  same  style,  and  hereunder  many 
parallels  are  given. 

71.  More  than  sixty  parallel  expressions  and  figures 
of  speech  are  given. 

72.  They  both  use  the  same  kind  of  figures  the  most 
frequently. 

73.  They  use  the  figure  in  the  same  manner,  and 
usually  one  at  the  close  of  an  article. 

74.  Both  use  the  same  facts  and  figure  to  illustrate 
national  honor. 

75.  The  same  rythm  in  style  is  common  to  both. 

76.  The  same  alliteration. 

77.  The  same  method  of  bringing  the  subject  into 
one  view. 

78.  The  wandering  from  the  point  and  mentioning 
the  fact. 

79.  The  same  threat,  command,  and  warning. 

80.  The  same  method  of  ridicule  and  satire. 

81.  The  same  use  of  diminutives. 

82.  The  same  sacrifice  of  grammar  to  conciseness. 

83.  The  same  majesty  and  grandeur  of  style. 

84.  Common  Sense  parallels  with  Junius^  in  many 
ways,  and  hereunder  more  than  forty  examples,  which 
to  repeat  would  be  to  rewrite  them. 

85.  They  were  both  revolutionists. 

86.  They  both  dedicated  their  life  to  the  same  ob- 
ject: to  remove  some  wrong,  to  do  mankind  some 
good. 

87.  They  both  attacked  the  King  of  England  and 
his  ministry  in  the  same  spirit  and  language. 

88.  Both  had  the  same  opinion  of  bribery  at  elec- 
tions. 


190  JUNIUS  UNMASKED. 

89.  They  were  both  political  reformers,  following 
the  same  principle  without  pay  and  above  party. 

In  the  above  argument  I  have  given  nearly  three 
hundred  parallel  facts  and  characteristics,  many  of  them 
of  such  a  nature  that  it  would  be  at  variance  with  na- 
ture itself  to  suppose  them  to  belong  to  different  men. 
But  I  have  also  searched  for  a  solitary  fact  which 
would  in  the  least  render  Mr.  Paine  and  Junius  in- 
compatible, and  have  found  it  not.  This  is  a  task  I 
hope  some  reader,  who  has  some  means  and  ample 
time,  will  devote  a  year  or  two  to  investigate.  My 
case  is  much  stronger  than  I  hoped  even  to  make  it.  I 
have  by  no  means  giv^en  all  the  facts  and  parallels,  but 
where  one  would  answer,  I  put  it  in  the  place  of  several 
CD  the  same  subject.  I  have  labored  to  condense — not 
to  expand;  I  have,  therefore,  commented  but  little, 
and  reasoned  scarcely  any.  There  is  no  reasoning 
which  is  superior  to  the  simple  declaration  of  facts.  It 
should  be  the  office  of  the  writer  to  present  facts  to 
A  REASONING  WORLD.  The  literary  world  has  had 
enough  of  the  whirlwind  of  words ;  it  wants  a  deluge 
of  facts.  Then  each  mind  will  take  care  of  itself,  if 
worth  ])reserving.  To  this  end  I  subjoin  Lord  Macau- 
lay's  five  reasons  why  Sir  Philip  Francis  was  Junius: 

"  Was  he  the  author  of  the  Letters  of  Junius?  Our 
own  firm  belief  is  that  he  was.  The  external  evidence 
is,  we  think,  such  as  would  support  a  veixlict  in  a 
civil — nay,  in  a  criminal  proceeding.  The  handwriting 
of  Junius  is  the  very  peculiar  handwriting  of  Francis, 
slightly  disguised.  As  to  the  position,  pursuits,  and 
connections  of  Junius,  the  following  are  the  most  im- 


MEVIEW.  191 

portant  facts,  which  can  be  considered  as  clearly  proved : 
First,  that  he  was  acquainted  with  the  technical  forms 
of  the  Secretary  of  State's  office ;  secondly,  that  he  was 
intimately  acquainted  Avith  the  business  of  the  War  Of- 
fice; thirdly,  that  he,  during  the  year  1770,  attended 
debates  in  the  House  of  Lords,  and  took  notes  of 
speeches — particularly  of  the  speeches  of  Lord  Chat- 
ham ;  fourthly,  that  he  bitterly  resented  the  appoint- 
ment of  Mr.  Chamier  to  the  place  of  Deputy  Secretary 
at  War ;  fifthly,  that  he  was  bound  by  some  strong  tie 
to  the  first  Lord  Holland.  .  .  .  Now  here  are  five 
marks,  all  of  which  ought  to  be  found  in  Junius. 
They  are  all  five  found  in  Francis.  We  do  not  believe 
that  more  than  two  of  them  can  be  found  in  any  other 
person  whatever.  If  this  argument  does  not  settle  the 
question,  there  is  an  end  of  all  reasoning  on  circumstan- 
tial evidence.'^ 

If  that  kind  and  amount  of  evidence  would  hang  a 
man  in  the  time  of  Macaulay,  the  times  have  so 
changed  that  it  takes  far  stronger  evidence  to  hang  men 
now  than  then.  That  kind  of  evidence  is  absolutely 
worthless  for  two  reasons :  first,  the  facts  alleged  in  the 
separate  counts  are  neither  of  them  necessary  to  the  pro- 
duction of  Junius;  and,  secondly,  they  would  prove 
nothing  if  they  were,  for  they  might  be  common  to  a 
hundred  men,  and  that  they  were  not  would  be  matter 
of  fact  to  prove.  Even  Macaulay  makes  this  rest  on 
his  own  belief.  "  We  do  not  believe/^  he  says,  "  that 
more  than  two  of  them  can  be  found  in  any  other  per- 
son whatever.^'  But  the  fact  is,  they  are  absolutely 
^'imaginary,''  and  not  at  all  necessary. 

"The  internal  evidence,"  he  says,  ''seems  to  point  in 


192  JUNIUS  UNMASKED, 

the  same  way."  First,  he  acknowledges  that  Francis, 
as  a  writer,  is  inferior  to  Junius,  but  not  "  decidedly  y^ 
and  then  lie  goes  on  to  say :  "One  of  the  strongest  rea- 
sons for  believing  that  Francis  was  Junius,  is  the  moral 
resemblance  between  the  two  men."  Macaulay  now 
sets  up  a  character  for  Junius,  the  most  of  which  is  not 
to  be  found  in  Junius,  and  says  it  is  like  iFrancis.  It 
is  thus  he  imposes  on  the  credulity  of  the  ignorant. 
But  I  give  his  words,  that  the  reader  may  investigate 
for  himself: 

"It  is  not  difficult,  from  the  letters  which,  under  va- 
rious signatures,  are  known  to  have  been  written  by 
Junius,  and  from  his  dealings  with  Woodfall  and  oth- 
ers, to  form  a  tolerable  correct  notion  of  his  character." 
I  call  the  attention  of  the  reader  to  the  above  sentence, 
and  have  emphasized  the  word  "notion"  and  the  phrase 
**  various  signatures^  Of  the  former,  I  would  remark 
that  di-notion  of  one's  character  falls  far  short  of  a  judg- 
ment, and  in  a  criticism  is  not  only  trifling,  but  con- 
temptible. In  regard  to  "  various  signatures,^'  I  will 
let  Junius  himself  answer:  "The  encouragement  given 
to  a  multitude  of  spurious^  mangled  publications  of  the 
'Letters  of  Junius,'  persuades  me  that  a  complete  edi- 
tion, corrected  and  improved  by  the  author,  will  be  fa- 
vorably received." — Preface.  In  this  volume  his  sig- 
nature is  Junius,  and  occasionally,  when  he  wishes  to 
explain  the  meaning,  or  defend  the  principle,  he  puts 
forward  Philo  Junius,  but  never  tcithoiU  this  cause,  I 
now  proceed  to  give  the  character  which  Macaulay  has 
picked  up — /  knotc  not  ichere : 

"He  was  clearly  a  man  not  destitute  of  real  patriotism 
and  magnanimity — a  man  whose  vices  were  not  of  a 


REVIEW.  193 

sordid  kind.  But  he  must  also  have  been  a  man  in  the 
highest  degree  arrogant  and  insolent — a  man  prone  to 
malevolence,  and  prone  to  the  error  of  mistaking  his 
malevolence  for  public  virtue.  'Doest  thou  well  to  be 
angry?'  was  the  question  asked  in  olden  time  of  the 
Hebrew  prophet,  and  he  answered  :  *  I  do  well/  This 
was  evidently  the  temper  of  Junius,  and  to  this  cause 
we  attribute  the  savage  cruelty  which  disgraces  several 
of  his  Letters.  No  man  is  so  merciless  as  he  who,  un- 
der a  strong  self-delusion,  confounds  his  antipathies 
with  his  duties.  It  may  be  added  that  Junius,  though 
allied  with  the  democratic  party  by  common  enmities, 
was  the  very  opposite  of  a  democratic  politician.  While 
attacking  individuals  with  a  ferocity  which  perpetually 
violated  all  the  laws  of  literary  warfare,  he  regarded  the 
most  defective  parts  of  the  old  constitution  with  a  re- 
spect amounting  to  pedantry ;  pleaded  the  cause  of  Old 
Saurum  with  fervor,  and  contemptuously  told  the  capi- 
talists of  Manchester  and  Leeds  that,  if  they  wanted 
votes,  they  might  buy  land  and  become  freeholders  of 
Lancashire  and  Yorkshire.  All  this,  we  believe,  might 
stand,  with  scarcely  any  change,  for  a  character  of 
Philip  Francis.'^ 

Thus  much  Macaulay.  Where  he  got  the  above 
character  I  am  unable  to  tell,  unless  out  of  his  own  im- 
agination. Before  I  answer  it,  I  will  give  another  per- 
version of  the  truth.  Dr.  Goodrich  concludes  his  ar- 
ticle on  Junius  as  follows  :  "  Junius  continued  his  la- 
bors, with  various  ability,  but  with  little  success,  nearly 
two  years  longer;  until,  in  the  month  of  January,  1772, 
the  king  remarked  to  a  friend  in  confidence:  ^Junius 
is  known,  and  will  write  no  more.'     Such  proved  to  be 


194  JUNIUS  UNMASKED. 

the  fact.  His  last  performance  was  dated  January  21, 
1772,  three  years  to  a  day  from  his  first  letter  to  the 
printer  of  the  Public  Advertiser.  Within  difeic  months^ 
Sir  Philip  Francis  was  appointed  to  one  of  the  high- 
est stations  o^ profit  and  trust  in  India,  at  a  distance  of 
fifteen  thousand  miles  from  the  seat  of  English  politics! " 

The  ^^Jew  months''  in  the  above  sentence  is  just  a 
year  and  a  half  after  the  king  "remarked  in  confi- 
dence,''  etc.  But  Francis  did  not  go  to  India  for  more 
than  two  and  a  half  years  after.  In  March,  1772,  he 
resigned  his  clerkship  in  the  war  department,  in  conse- 
quence of  a  quarrel  with  Lord  Barrington,  the  new 
Minister  at  War.  He  then  left  England,  and  traveled 
on  the  continent  the  remainder  of  the  year ;  in  the  June 
following  he  was  appointed  one  of  the  Council  of  Ben- 
gal, with  a  salary  of  £10,000,  and  in  the  summer  of 
1774  went  to  India.  That  fall  Thomas  Paine  came  to 
America.  It  is  thus  the  phrase  "  a  few  months,''  art- 
fully }Hit  into  a  sentence  in  connection  with  the  supposed 
fact  that  the  king  had  found  out  Junius,  and  had  bribed 
him  to  stop  writing,  would  mislead  the  mind,  and  jkt- 
v'ert  a  reasonable  conclusion.  This  is  a  trick  of  the 
peu,  and  to  which  no  honorable  mind  will  descend. 
The  fact  is,  Francis  would  never  have  been  thought  of 
as  Juuius,  had  he  not  l>eon  an  intimate  friend  and 
school  nuite  of  Mr.  Wood  fall's. 

But  the  above  argument,  summed  up  by  Lord  Ma- 
caulay,  is  the  strongest  on  record  for  any  man  till  now. 
I  was  not  aware  of  its  weakness  till  now.  I  supposed 
there  was  a  plausible  argument  at  least.  To  be  an- 
swered, it  needs  only  to  be  a}>|)('nded  to  this.  I  s|>eak 
without  vanity,  for  the  argument  is  nature's  own,  not 


REVIEW.  195- 

mine.  I  will  honor  it,  therefore,  with  a  rebuttal  from 
Junius  himself.  In  Letter  44  he  says:  "I  may  quit 
the  service,  but  it  would  be  absurd  to  suspect  me  of  de- 
sertion. The  reputation  of  these  papers  is  an  honorable 
pledge  for  my  attachment  to  the  people.  To  sacrifice 
a  respected  character,  and  to  renounce  the  esteem  of 
society,  requires  more  than  Mr.  Wedderburn^s  resolu- 
tion ;  and  though  in  him  it  was  rather  a  profession  than 
a  desertion  of  his  principles  (I  speak  tenderly  of  this 
gentleman,  for,  when  treachery  is  in  question,  I  think 
we  should  make  allowances  for  a  Scotchman),  yet  we 
have  seen  him  in  the  House  of  Commons,  overwhelmed 
with  confusion,  and  almost  bereft  of  his  faculties.  But 
in  truth,  sir,  I  have  left  no  room  for  an  accommodation 
with  the  piety  of  St.  James\  My  oifenses  are  not  to  be 
redeemed  by  recantation  or  repentance :  on  one  side, 
our  warmest  patriots  would  disclaim  me  as  a  burthen 
to  their  honest  ambition ;  on  the  other,  the  vilest  pros- 
titution, if  Junius  could  descend  to  it,  would  lose  its 
natural  merit  and  influence  in  the  cabinet,  and  treachery 
be  no  longer  a  recommendation  to  the  royal  favor.^^ 

There  is  not,  among  the  dregs  or  scummings  of  hu- 
man nature,  a  character  so  false  and  vile  as  to  write 
that,  and  then  do  as  Francis  did,  or  do  as  the  king  of 
England  did,  if  he  believed  him  to  be  Junius.  Nature 
rebels  at  such  an  argument,  founded  on  the  facts  of  the 
case.  It  is  by  a  species  of  subterfuge,  or  literary  leger- 
demain, exhibiting  some  facts  and  hiding  others,  call- 
ing the  attention  to  some  trifling  thing,  and  then  con- 
cealing the  truth  of  the  matter,  is  all  that  has  ever 
rendered  the  argument  in  favor  of  Francis  of  any  con- 
sequence with  the  public.  There  is  more,  for  example, 
13 


196  JUNIUS  UNMASKED. 

in  the  one  word  Lord,  placed  just  in  front  of  Maeaulay, 
than  in  any  argument  he  may  give  on  the  subject.  In 
fact,  that  word  imposes  on  the  mind  an  authority  not 
easily  resisted.  It  obscures  the  reason,  quiets  investi- 
gation, destroys  the  desire  to  search,  beguiles  thought, 
puts  the  mind  to  sleep,  and  the  reader,  like  a  young 
bird  with  eyes  closed  and  mouth  open,  takes  the  foml 
from  out  the  old  one's  mouth,  gulps  it  down,  and  goes 
to  sleep.  It  is  thus  the  student  and  the  professor  take, 
on  authority,  what  they  have  no  business  to,  and  do 
what  they  never  would  do,  did  their  own  souls  not  bow 
basely  at  the  shrine  of  some  literary  Baal.  It  is  thus 
in  politics,  religion,  history,  law,  philoso})hy,  criticism, 
belles-lettres,  science — whichever  way  we  turn  we  find 
the  false  god  and  his  worshipers.  When  the  student  and 
the  professor  come  to  find  Mr.  Maeaulay  to  be  a  man  of 
much  talent  in  a  certain  direction,  but  by  no  means  a 
literary  god  to  be  worshiped  as  infallible,  they  will  lose 
faith  in  his  assertions  which  come  without  proof 

It  had  been  my  intention  to  throw  a  few  hints  into 
the  Introduction  upon  external  and  internal  evidence,  as 
it  is  called,  but  I  concluded  to  defer  it  till  now,  because 
the  remarks  and  the  illustrations  would  then  be  thrown 
together. 

In  a  criticism  of  this  kind,  but  little  confidence  can  be 
placed  in  external  evidence,  because  it  all  conies  witliin 
the  realm  of  art  or  accident,  and  any  scientific  truth 
can  not  be  founded  thereon.  For  example,  Maeaulay 
says:  **  The  handwriting  of  Junius  is  the  very  i)eculiar 
handwriting  of  Francis,  slightly  disguised."  Hand- 
writing is  an  artf  just  like  chopping  wood  or  playing 
on  the  piano.     And  to  tell  who  wrote  an  article  by  the 


BEVIEW.  197 

*^ peculiar"  handwriting,  is  about  as  safe  as  to  hazard 
an  opinion  upon  who  is  chopping  wood  by  the  "  pecu- 
liar" swing  of  the  ax.  Nor  does  the  same  individual 
always  write  in  the  same  style  or  manner.  Such  proof 
is  good  for  nothing.  And  this  is  the  nature  of  all  ex- 
ternal evidence,  and  is  the  cause  of  the  endless  litigation 
in  our  courts.  A  man  may  go  on  the  stand  and  swear 
to  a  lie.  I  have  known  men  do  it.  Then  we  draw 
inferences  from  the  associations  of  men,  which  the  real 
facts  of  the  case  might  not  warrant.  The  accidents  of 
place  and  position,  of  friendships  and  age,  of  times  and 
circumstances,  and  even  of  existence,  all  may  or  may 
not,  in  a  world  full  of  men,  have  bearing  on  the  facts 
which  form  the  opinion  of  an  outside  spectator.  For 
example,  Francis,  it  is  said,  "  did  not  deny  that  he  was 
Junius."  If  he  had  denied  or  affirmed  he  was,  it  would 
have  proved  just  the  same.  It  belongs  to  the  most 
worthless  kind  of  external  evidence.  A  naturalist  does 
not  ask  his  horse  whether  or  not  he  is  a  horse.  If  the 
horse  could  speak  and  say  to  his  master,  '^  I  am  a  jack- 
ass," the  master  would  be  a  fool  to  believe  him.  It  is 
thus  persons  often  put  on  a  character  in  a  word  or  two 
which  does  not  belong  to  them,  but  nature  takes  care 
to  always  reveal  the  true  character,  if  they  say  much. 
Now  if  we  could  get  within  the  meaning  of  the  words, 
get  behind  them  to  the  spirit  of  their  author,  we  would 
be  getting  at  the  very  soul  of  evidence.  This  would 
be  true,  and  we  could  found  a  scientific  conclusion  upon 
it,  because  natural  and  not  artificial.  This  is  internal 
evidence.  At  present,  this  kind  of  evidence  is  known 
only  in  such  a  criticism  as  this,  for  the  soul  of  the  author 
shines  out  of  his  work,  I  care  not  who  he  is.     We  may, 


198  JUNIUS  UNMASKED. 

for  aught  I  know,  write  our  history  on  all  we  touch.  If 
so,  science  will  some  day  give  the  world  a  knowledge 
of  it.     It  is  then  external  evidence  will  have  ceased. 

In  a  work  of  this  kind,  it  is  incumbent  on  the  critic 
to  ascertain,  first,  the  spirit  and  object  of  the  work,  and 
then  to  see  if  it  be  inconsistent  with  itself.  If  it  is  not, 
then  the  character  he  finds  will  be  true  to  nature,  and 
he  can  not  go  wrong  in  his  conclusions.  There  is  a 
passage  in  Letter  53  on  this  very  point.  Junius  ia 
speaking  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Home,  and  says :  **  He  re- 
peatedly affirn^s,  or  intimates,  at  least,  that  he  knows 
the  author  of  these  Letters.  With  what  color  of  truth, 
then,  can  he  pretend  *  that  I  am  nowhere  to  he  encoun- 
tered but  in  a  newspaper?'  I  shall  leave  him  to  his 
suspicions.  It  is  not  necessary  that  I  should  confide  in 
the  honor  and  discretion  of  a  man  who  always  seems  to 
hate  me  with  as  much  rancor  as  if  I  had  formerly  been 
his  friend.  But  he  asserts  that  he  has  traced  me  through 
a  variety  of  signatures.  To  make  the  discovery  of  any 
importance  to  his  purpose,  he  should  have  proved  either 
that  the  fictitious  character  of  Junius  has  not  been  con- 
sistently supported,  or  that  the  author  has  maintained 
diflPercnt  })rinciples  under  different  signatures.  I  can 
not  recall  to  my  memory  the  numl)erless  trifles  I  have 
written ;  hut  I  rely  on  the  consciousness  of  my  own  in- 
tegrity, and  defy  him  to  fix  any  colorable  charge  of 
inconsistency  upon  me." 

Now,  whjit  have  T  shown?  It  is  that  the  diameter 
of  Thomas  Piiine,  as  found  in  his  writings  (not  in  what 
people  say  about  him),  is  the  very  same  character,  with 
all  its  shades  and  coloring,  which  is  found  in  the  Let- 


REVIEW.  199 

TEES  OF  Junius.  This  is  shown  by  the  best  and 
strongest  evidence  under  the  sun,  internal  evidence. 
I  have  purposely  avoided  all  external  evidence,  from 
the  mere  fact  of  its  worth lessness,  inasmuch  as  it  is  that 
kind  of  evidence  which  itself  needs  proof.  If,  for  ex- 
ample, Thomas  Paine  had  said  to  some  one:  ^' I  wrote 
Junius,^'  it  would  be  no  evidence  to  me,  and  would 
weigh  just  the  same  as  if  he  had  said :  "  I  did  not 
write  Junius.'^  It  is  external  evidence,  and  may  be  a 
lie,  for  lying  is  common  to  mankind.  It  is  that  kind 
of  evidence  which  needs  proof.  But  nature  never 
makes  two  great  characters  alike,  nor  at  the  same 
time.  She  is  prodigal  of  varieties.  And  if  two  char- 
acters seem  alike,  it  is  because  of  their  insignificance; 
the  orbit  of  their  life  is  so  small  it  can  not  be  meas- 
ured. But  when  a  Paine,  or  a  Parker,  or  a  Luther,  or 
a  Jesus,  is ,  let  loose  on  earth,  they  each  describe  an 
orbit  so  large  and  peculiar  there  is  no  mistaking  it  for 
any  thing  else  the  world  ever  exhibits  among  men. 
And  in  their  earthly  pilgrimage,  however  seemingly 
erratic  in  their  course,  nature  holds  them  true  to  her 
purposes,  and  holds  up  no  lie  therein  to  deceive  the 
senses.  She  is  true,  also,  to  herselfy  in  giving  to  as 
these  world's  redeemers. 

My  argument,  then,  is,  Nature  would  not  be  natural 
if  Thomas  Paine  were  not  Junius,  a  mere  absurdity. 
But  let  us  suppose  he  is  not.  Then,  to  make  out  the 
case,  strong  evidence  of  the  same  iyiternal  kind  would 
have  to  be  produced  in  favor  of  this  supposition.  But 
I  have  searched  for  a  solitary  fact  which  would  even 
tend  to  contradict  my  hypothesis,  and  have  not  found 
it.     And  I  frankly  confess,  had  I  found  it,  this  book 


200  JUNIUS  UNMASKED, 

would  not  have  been  written.  Reader,  search  for  it 
yourself,  and,  when  found,  publish  it  to  the  world,  for 
the  world  is  suffering  for  the  want  of  truth.  And 
though  my  conclusions  be  false,  if  I  have  been  the 
means  of  revealing  the  truth,  I  shall  not  have  written 
in  vain. 


P^RT    II. 


AN  EXAMINATION  OF  THE  DECLARATION 
OF  INDEPENDENCE. 

It  is  with  painful  feelings  I  now  call  your  attention 
to  the  famous  document  which  sets  forth  the  political 
creed  of  the  United  States.  More  than  once  my  pen 
has  refused  to  set  about  this  work,  but  I  now  ask :  Who 
wrote  the  original  Declaration  of  Independence?  I 
answer  boldly,  Thomas  Paine.  To  prove  this,  my 
method  is  the  same  as  with  Junius,  and  the  prejudices 
of  the  united  world  shall  not  intimidate  me. 

It  is  not  my  purpose  to  revive  the  old  and  long-for- 
gotten controversy  about  the  authorship  of  this  docu- 
ment. Enough  to  say,  volumes  have  been  written  to 
prove  that  it  was  not  Jefferson's.  But  the  method  and 
object  of  a  negative  criticism  I  scorn.  If  it  can  not 
be  shown  to  be  some  other  man's,  then  let  the  claim- 
ant wear  his  honors;  he  certainly  did  not  come  by  them 
meanly  or  dishonorably;  they  were   forced   upon  him. 

My  evidence  will  be  such  as  to  exclude  the  possi- 
bility of  even  literary  theft  in  Jefferson,  and  that  it  is,  as 
a  whole,  the  work  of  the  author  of  Common  Sense, 
and  can  not  possibly  be  the  work  of  any  body  else. 
This   is  a   bold  assertion,  and  a  little  out  of  my  turn, 

(201)* 


202  DECLARATION  OF 

but  my  object  is  to  raise  the  strongest  cZom6<  of  the  truth 
of  what  I  assert  in  the  mind  of  my  reader,  so  as  to  en- 
list his  attention,  and  hold  me  to  the  proof. 

The  method  of  my  argunient  is  as  follows: 

First,  to  show  wherein  this  document  is  exactly  like 
Mr.  Paine;  and, 

Secondly,  wherein  it  is  entirely  unlike  Mr.  Jeffer- 
son. 

The  points  wherein  they  would  agree  are  necessarily 
thrown  out,  and  count  nothing  on  either  side.  For  ex- 
ample, the  principles  therein  contained  may  be  com- 
mon to  both,  and  can  have  no  weight  in  an  argu- 
ment. It  is  said,  in  defense  of  this  paper  being  Mr. 
Jefferson's,  that  tlic  "Summary  View"  of  his  sub- 
mitted to,  but  not  passed  by  the  Virginia  Delegate 
Convention  in  1774,  contained  the  ^'  f/eiins^'  of  the 
Declaration.  This  I  do  not  admit,  but  if  it  did,  it 
would  prove  nothing,  for  so  did  the  writings  of  John 
Adams,  and  Benjamin  Franklin,  and  Sanmel  Adams, 
and  especially  of  James  Otis.  A  thousand  men  in 
America  had,  perhaps,  expressed  the  cardinal  doctrine 
of  equal  rights,  and  that  the  British  Parliament  had 
usurped  them.  There  is  notiiing  peculiar  nor  indi- 
vidual in  this;  but  when  we  find  one  man  only  who 
makes  a  specialty  of  the  Declaration^  it  attracts  atten- 
tion, and  must  have  great  weight  when  supported  by  a 
nuiltitude  of  other  s})ecial  facts,  all  pointing  in  the 
same  direction.     I,  therefore,  go  to  show : 

First,  Common  Sense  was  written  by  Mr.  Paine  for  the 
sole  purpose  of  declaring  indeju'ndcnce,  and,  with  this 
document  in  view.  I  have  heretofore  reviewed  Com- 
mon Sepse,  beginning  on  page  156  of  this  book.     If  it 


INDEPENDENCE,  203 

were  practicable  for  the  reader  to  read  the  whole  of 
Common  Sense  at  this  time,  it  would  render  my  labor 
much  less ;  but  as  this  may  not  be  the  case,  I  will  now  give 
the  whole  of  the  third  division  of  that  paper,  being : 

"thoughts  on  the  present  state  of  the 
american  affairs. 

"  In  the  following  pages  I  offer  nothing  more  than 
simple  facts,  plain  arguments,  and  common  sense;  and 
have  no  other  preliminaries  to  settle  with  the  reader, 
than  that  he  will  divest  himself  of  prejudice  and  pre- 
possession, and  suffer  his  reason  and  his  feelings  to  de- 
termine for  themselves;  that  he  will  put  on,  or  rather 
that  he  will  not  put  off  the  true  character  of  a  man, 
and  generously  enlarge  his  views  beyond  the  present 
day. 

^*  Volumes  have  been  written  on  the  subject  of  the 
struggle  between  England  and  America.  Men  of  all 
ranks  have  embarked  in  the  controversy  from  differ- 
ent motives,  and  with  various  designs ;  but  all  have  been 
ineffectual,  and  the  peri.od  of  debate  is  closed.  Arms,  as 
the  last  resource,  must  decide  the  contest;  the  appeal 
was  the  choice  of  the  king,  and  the  continent  hath  ac- 
cepted the  challenge. 

"  It  has  been  reported  of  the  late  Mr.  Pelham  (who, 
though  an  able  minister,  was  not  without  his  faults), 
that  on  his  being  attacked  in  the  House  of  Commons,  on 
the  score,  that  his  measures  were  only  of  a  temporary 
kind,  replied  '^  they  will  last  my  time  J'  Should  a  thought 
so  fatal  and  unmanly  possess  the  colonies  in  the  present 
contest,  the  name  of  ancestors  will  be  remembered  by 
future  generations  with  detestation. 

"  The  sun  never  shone  on  a  cause  of  greater  worth. 
'Tis  not  the  affair  of  a  city,  a  county,  a  province,  or  a 
kingdom,  but  of  a  continent — of  at  least  one-eighth 
part  of  the  habitable  globe.     Tis  not  the  concern  of  a 


204  DECLARATION  OF 

day,  a  year,  or  an  a^e ;  posterity  are  virtually  involved 
in  the  contest,  and  they  will  be  more  or  less  affected  even 
to  the  end  of  time,  by  the  proceedings  now.  Now  is 
the  seed-time  of  continental  union,  faith,  and  honor. 
The  least  fracture  now  will  be  like  a  name  engraved 
with  the  point  of  a  pin  on  the  tender  rind  of  a  young 
oak  ;  the  wound  will  enlarge  with  the  tree,  and  pos- 
terity read  it  in  full  grown  characters. 

"  By  referring  the  matter  from  argument  to  arms,  a 
new  era  for  ])olitics  is  struck;  a  new  metliod  of  think- 
ing hatli  arisen.  All  plans,  proposals,  etc.,  prior  to'the 
nineteenth  of  April,  i.  e.,  to  the  commencement  of  hos- 
tilities, are  like  the  alniiinacs  of  last  year;  which, though 
proper  tlien,  are  superseded  and  useless  now.  What- 
ever was  advanced  by  the  advocates  on  either  side  of 
the  question  then  terminated  in  one  and  the  same  })oint, 
viz.,  a  union  with  Great  Britain.  The  only  difference 
between  the  parties  was  the  method  of  effecting  it ;  the 
one  proposing  force,  the  other  friendship;  but  it  liath 
so  far  happened  that  the  first  has  failed,  and  the  second 
has  withdrawn  her  influence. 

*'  As  much  hath  been  said  of  the  advantages  of  recon- 
ciliation, wl)ich,  like  an  agreeable  dream,  hath  passed 
away  and  left  us  as  we  were,  it  is  but  right  that  we 
sliould  examine  the  contrary  side  of  the  argument,  and 
inquire  into  some  of  the  many  material  injuries  which 
these  colonies  sustain,  and  always  will  sustain,  by  being 
connected  with  and  dependent  on  Great  Britain.  To 
examine  that  connection  and  dependence,  on  the  prin- 
ciples of  nature  and  conunon  sense,  to  see  what  we  have 
to  trust  to,  if  separated,  and  what  we  are  to  exixxit,  if 
dependent. 

"  I  have  heard  it  asserted  by  some,  that  ns  America 
has  nourished  under  her  former  connection  with  Great 
Britain,  the  sanie  connection  is  necessary  toward  her 
future  haj)piness,  and  will  always  have  the  s:ime  eftwt. 
Nothing  can  be  more  fallacious  than  this  kind  of  argu- 
ment.    We  mav  as  well  assert  that  because  a  child  has 


INDEPENDENCE,  205 

thrived  upon  milk,  that  it  is  never  to  have  meat,  or 
that  the  first  twenty  years  of  our  lives  is  to  become  a 
precedent  for  the  next  twenty.  But  even  tliis  is  admit- 
ting more  than  is  true,  for  I  answer  roundly,  that 
America  would  have  flourished  as  much,  and  j^robably 
much  more,  had  no  European  power  had  any  thing  to 
do  with  her.  The  articles  of  commerce  by  which  she 
has  enriched  herself,  are  the  necessaries  of  life,  and  will 
always  have  a  market  while  eating  is  the  custom  of 
Europe. 

''  But  she  has  protected  us,  say  some.  That  she  hath 
engrossed  us  is  true,  and  defended  the  continent  at  our 
expense,  as  well  as  her  own,  is  admitted,  and  she  would 
have  defended  Turkey  from  the  same  motives,  viz., 
for  the  sake  of  trade  and  dominion. 

'^  Alas !  we  have  been  long  led  away  by  ancient 
prejudices,  and  made  large  sacrifices  to  superstition. 
We  have  boasted  the  protection  of  Great  Britain,  with- 
out considering  that  her  motive  was  interest,  not  attach- 
ment; and  that  she  did  not  protect  us  from  our  enemies 
on  our  account,  but  from  her  enemies  on  her  own  accounty 
from  those  who  had  no  quarrel  with  us  on  any  other 
account,  and  who  will  always  be  our  enemies  on  the 
same  account.  Let  Britain  waive  her  pretensions  to 
the  continent,  or  the  continent  throw  off  the  depend- 
ence, and  we  should  be  at  peace  with  France  and  Spain, 
were  they  at  war  with  Britain.  The  miseries  of  Hano- 
ver, last  war,  ought  to  warn  us  against  connections. 

"  It  hath  lately  been  asserted  in  Parliament  that  the 
colonies  have  no  relation  to  each  other,  but  through  the 
parent  country,  i.  e.,  that  Pennsylvania  and  the  Jerseys, 
and  so  on  for  the  rest,  are  sister  colonies  by  the  way  of 
England.  This  is  certainly  a  very  roundabout  way  of 
proving  relationship,  but  it  is  the  nearest  and  only  true 
way  of  proving  enemyship,  if  1  may  so  call  it.  France 
and  Spain  never  were,  nor  perhaps  ever  will  be,  our 
enemies  as  Americans j  but  as  our  being  the  subjects  of 
Great  Britain. 


206    •  DECLARATION  OF 

"  But  Britain  is  the  parent  country,  say  some.  Then 
the  more  shame  upon  her  conduct.  Even  brutes  do 
not  devour  their  young,  nor  savages  make  war  upon 
their  families;  wherefore,  the  assertion,  if  true,  turns  to 
her  reproach.  But  it  happens  not  to  be  time,  or  only 
partly  so;  and  the  phrase  parent^  or  mother  countin/ 
hath  been  jesuitically  adopted  by  the  king  and  his  par- 
asites, with  a  low,  papistical  design  of  gaining  an  unfair 
bias  on  the  credulous  weakness  of  our  minds.  Europe, 
and  not  England,  is  the  parent  country  of  America. 
This  new  world  hath  been  the  asylum  for  the  ])erse- 
cuted  lovers  of  civil  and  religious  liberty  from  every 
part  of  Europe.  Hither  have  they  fled,  not  from  the 
tender  embraces  of  the  mother,  but  from  the  cruelty  of 
the  monster;  and  it  is  so  far  true  of  England,  that  the 
same  tyranny  which  drove  the  first  emigrants  from 
home  pursues  their  descendants  still. 

"  In  this  extensive  quarter  of  the  globe,  we  forget 
the  narrow  limits  of  three  hundred  and  sixty  miles — 
the  extent  of  England — and  carry  our  friendship  on  a 
larger  scale.  We  claim  brotherho(xi  with  every  Eu- 
ropean Christian,  and  triumph  in  the  generosity  of  the 
sentiment. 

"  It  is  pleasant  to  observe  by  what  regular  gradations 
Ave  surmont  local  prejudices,  as  we  eidarge  our  ac- 
quaintance with  the  world.  A  man  born  in  any  town 
in  England  divided  into  parishes,  will  naturally  associ- 
ate most  with  his  fellow-parishioners — because  their  in- 
terests, in  many  cases,  will  be  common — and  distinguish 
him  by  the  name  of  neighbor ;  if  he  meet  him  but  a 
few  miles  from  home,  he  drops  the  narrow  idea  of  a 
street,  and  salutes  him  by  the  name  of  fownniuan  ;  if  he 
travel  out  of  the  county,  and  meets  him  in  any  other, 
he  forgets  the  minor  division  of  street  and  town,  and 
calls  him  countryman — /.  r.,  conntyman  ;  but  if,  in  their 
foreign  excursions,  they  should  associate  in  Fnince,  or 
any  other  part  of  Europe y  their  local  remembrance 
would  be  enlarged  into  that  of  Englishmen,     And,  by 


INDEPENDENCE.  207 

a  just  parity  of  reasoning,  all  Europeans  meeting  in 
America,  or  any  other  quarter  of  the  globe,  are  country- 
men ;  for  England,  Holland,  Germany,  or  Sweden, 
when  compared  with  the  whole,  stand  in  the  same 
places  on  the  larger  scale  which  the  divisions  of  street, 
town,  and  county  do  on  the  smaller  one — distinctions 
too  limited  for  continental  minds.  Kot  one-third  of 
the  inhabitants,  even  of  this  province,  are  of  English 
descent.  Wherefore,  I  reprobate  the  phrase  of  parent, 
or  mother  country,  applied  to  England  only,  as  being 
false,  selfish,  narrow,  and  ungenerous. 

"  But,  admitting  that  we  were  all  of  English  descent, 
Avhat  does  it  amount  to?  Nothing.  Britain,  being 
now  an  open  enemy,  extinguishes  every  other  name  and 
title ;  and  to  say  that  reconciliation  is  our  duty,  is  truly 
farcical.  The  first  King  of  England,  of  the  present 
line — William  the  Conqueror — was  a  Frenchman,  and 
half  the  peers  of  England  are  descendants  from  the 
same  country;  wherefore,  by  the  same  method  of  reason- 
ing, England  ought  to  be  governed  by  France. 

*'  Much  hath  been  said  of  the  united  strength  of 
Britain  and  the  colonies — that,  in  conjunction,  they 
might  bid  defiance  to  the  world.  But  this  is  mere  pre- 
sumption ;  the  fate  of  war  is  uncertain,  neither  do  the 
expressions  mean  any  thing;  for  this  continent  would 
never  suffer  itself  to  be  drained  of  inhabitants  to  sup- 
port the  British  arms  in  either  Asia,  Africa,  or  Eu- 
rope. 

'^Besides,  what  have  we  to  do  with  setting  the  world 
at  defiance?  Our  plan  is  commerce,  and  that,  well  at- 
tended to,  will  secure  us  the  peace  and  friendship  of  all 
Europe,  because  it  is  the  interest  of  all  Europe  to  have 
America  a  free  port  Her  trade  will  always  be  a  pro- 
tection, and  her  barrenness  of  gold  and  silver  secure  her 
from  invaders. 

^'  I  challenge  the  warmest  advocate  for  reconciliation 
to  show  a  single  advantage  that  this  continent  can  reap 
by  being  connected  with  Great  Britain.     I  repeat  the 


208  DECLARATION  OF 

challenge  ;  not  a  single  advantage  is  derived.  Our  corn 
will  fetch  its  price  in  any  market  in  Europe,  and  our 
imported  goods  must  be  paid  for,  buy  them  where  we 
will. 

"  But  the  injuries  and  disadvantages  wliich  we  sus- 
tain by  tliat  connection  are  without  number;  and  our 
duty  to  mankind  at  large,  as  well  as  to  ourselves,  in- 
structs us  to  renounce  the  alliance,  because  any  submis- 
sion to,  or  dependance  on.  Great  Britain,  tends  directly 
to  involve  this  continent  in  European  wars  and  quar- 
rels, and  sets  us  at  variance  with  nations,  who  would 
otherwise  seek  our  friendship,  and  against  whom  we 
have  neither  anger  nor  complaint.  As  Europe  is  our 
market  for  trade,  we  ought  to  form  no  partial  con- 
nection with  any  part  of  it.  It  is  the  true  interest  of 
America  to  steer  clear  of  European  contentions,  which 
she  never  can  do;  while,  by  her  dependence  on  Britain, 
she  is  made  the  make- weight  in  the  scale  of  British 
j)()litics. 

^'  Europe  is  too  thickly  planted  with  kingdoms  to  be 
long  at  peace ;  and  whenever  a  war  breaks  out  between 
England  and  any  foreign  power,  the  trade  of  America 
goes  to  ruin,  because  of  her  connection  with  Britain, 
The  next  war  may  not  turn  out  Mike  the  last,  and, 
should  it  not,  the  advocates  for  reconciliation  now  will 
be  wishing  for  separation  then,  because  neutrality,  in 
that  case,  would  be  a  safer  convoy  than  a  man-of-war. 
Every  thing  that  is  right  or  natural  pleads  for  separa- 
tion.. The  blood  of  the  slain,  the  weeping  voice  of  Na- 
ture, cries,  *V7'/.s  time  to  part!  ^  Even  the  distance  at 
which  the  Almighty  hath  placed  England  and  Americji, 
is  a  strong  and  natural  proof  that  the  authority  of  the 
one  over  the  other  was  never  the  design  of  Heaven, 
The  time,  likewise,  at  which  the  continent  was  discov- 
ered, adds  weight  to  the  argument,  and  the  manner  in 
which  it  was  peopled  increases  the  force  of  it.  The 
reformation  was  preceded  by  the  discovery  of  America, 
as  if  the  Almighty  graciously  meant  to  open  a  sanctu- 


INDEPENDENCE,  209 

ary  to  the  persecuted  in  future  years,  when  home  should 
afford  neither  friendship  nor  safety. 

^'  The  authority  of  Great  Britain  over  this  continent 
is  a  form  of  government  wliich,  sooner  or  later,  must 
have  an  end ;  and  a  serious  mind  can  draw  no  true 
pleasure  by  looking  forward,  under  the  painful  and 
positive  conviction  that  what  he  calls  Hhe  present  con- 
stitution/ is  merely  temporary.  As  parents,  we  ciui 
liave  no  joy,  knowing  that  this  government  is  not  suf- 
ficiently lasting  to  insure  any  thing  which  we  may  be- 
queath to  posterity;  and  by  a  plain  method  of  argument, 
as  we  are  running  the  next  generation  into  debt,  we 
ought  to  do  the  work  of  it — otherwise  we  use  them 
meanly  and  pitifully.  In  order  to  discover  the  line  of 
our  duty  rightly,  we  should  take  our  children  in  our 
hand,  and  fix  our  station  a  few  years  further  into  life. 
That  eminence  will  present  a  prospect,  which  a  few  pres- 
ent fears  and  prejudices  conceal  from  our  sight. 

"  Though  I  would  carefully  avoid  giving  unnecessary 
offense,  yet  I  am  inclined  to  believe  that  all  those  who 
espouse  the  doctrine  of  reconciliation  may  be  included 
within  the  following  descriptions  : 

''  Interested  men,  who  are  not  to  be  trusted  ;  weak 
men,  who  can  not  see  ;  prejudiced  men,  who  will  not 
see;  and  a  certain  set  of  moderate  men,  who  think  bet- 
ter of  the  European  world  than  it  deserves ;  and  this 
last  class,  by  an  ill-judged  deliberation,  will  be  the 
cause  of  more  calamities  to  this  continent  than  all  the 
other  three. 

"  It  is  the  good  fortune  of  many  to  live  distant  from 
the  scene  of  sorrow.  The  evil  is  not  sufficiently  brought 
to  their  doors  to  make  them  feel  the  precariousness  with 
which  all  American  property  is  possessed.  But  let  our 
imaginations  transport  us  a  few  moments  to  Bost(m ; 
that  seat  of  wretchedness  will  teach  us  wisdom,  and  in- 
struct us  forever  to  renounce  a  power  in  whom  we  can 
have  no  trust.  The  inhabitants  of  that  unfortunate 
city,  who,  but  a  few  months  ago,  were  in  ease  and  af- 


210  DECLARATION  OF 

fluence,  have  now  no  other  alternative  than  to  stay  and 
starve,  or  turn  out  to  beg — endangered  by  the  fire  of 
their  friends  if  they  continue  within  the  city,  and  plun- 
dered by  the  soldiery  if  they  leave  it.  In  their  ])resent 
situation  they  are  prisoners  without  the  hope  of  re- 
demption, and  in  a  general  attack  for  tl)eir  relief,  they 
would  be  exposed  to  the  fury  of  both  armies. 

*'  Men  of  passive  tempers  look  somewhat  lightly  over 
the  offenses  of  Britain,  and,  still  hoping  for  the  best, 
are  apt  to  call  out,  *  Convey  come;  we  .shall  be  friends 
again  for  all  thisJ  But  examine  the  passions  and  feel- 
ings of  mankind,  bring  the  doctrine  of  reconciliation  to 
the  touchstone  of  nature,  and  then  tell  me  whether  you 
can  hereafter  love,  honor,  and  faithfully  serve  the 
power  that  hath  carried  fire  and  sword  into  your  land? 
If  you  can  not  do  all  these,  then  you  are  only  deceiving 
yourselves,  and,  by  your  delay,  bringing  ruin  upon  your 
posterity.  Your  future  connection  with  Britain,  whom 
you  can  neither  love  nor  honor,  will  be  forced  and  un- 
natural, and,  being  formed  only  on  the  })lan  of  present 
convenience,  will,  in  a  little  time,  fall  into  a  relapse 
more  wretched  than  the  first.  But  if  you  say  you  can 
still  ]);iss  the  violations  over,  then  I  ask,  hath  your 
house  been  burnt?  Hath  your  property  been  destroyed 
before  your  face?  Are  your  wife  and  children  desti- 
tute of  a  bed  to  lie  on,  or  bread  to  live  on?  Have  you 
lost  a  ])arent  or  a  chihl  by  tlieir  hands,  and  yourself  the 
ruined  and  wretched  survivor  ?  If  you  have  not,  then 
are  you  not  a  judge  of  those  who  have.  But  if  you 
have,  and  can  still  shake  hands  with  the  murderers, 
then  are  you  unworthy  the  name  of  husband,  father, 
friend,  or  lover ;  and,  whatever  may  be  your  rank  or 
title  in  life,  you  have  thcjieart  of  a  coward  and  the 
spirit  of  a  syct)phant. 

"  This  is  not  inflaming  or  exaggerating  matters,  but 
trying  \\\v\\\  by  those  feelings  and  aHeetions  which 
nature  justifies,  and  without  which  we  should  be  inca- 
pable of  discharging  the  «ocial  duties  of  life  or  enjoying 


INDEPENDENCE.  211 

the  felicities  of  it.  I  mean  not  to  exhibit  horror  for  the 
purpo>?e  of  provoking  revenge^  but  to  awaken  us  from 
fatal  and  unmanly  slumbers,  that  we  may  pursue  de- 
term  inately  souie  fixed  object.  It  is  not  in  the  power 
of  Britain  or  of  Europe  to  conquer  America,  if  she  does 
not  conquer  herself  by  delay  and  timidity.  The  present 
winter  is  worth  an  age  if  rightly  employed;  but  if  lost 
01*^  neglected,  the  whole  continent  will  partake  of  the 
misfortune ;  and  there  is  no  puuishment  which  that  man 
will  not  deserve,  be  he  who,  or  what,  or  where  he  will, 
that  may  be  the  means  of  sacrificing  a  season  so  pre- 
cious and  useful. 

'^  It  is  repugnant  to  reason  and  the  universal  order 
of  things,  to  all  examples  from  former  ages,  to  suppose 
that  this  continent  can  longer  remain  subject  to  any  ex- 
ternal power.  The  most  sanguine  in  Britain  do  not 
think  so.  The  utmost  stretch  of  human  wisdom  can 
not,  at  this  time,  compass  a  plan  short  of  separation, 
which  can  promise  the  continent  even  a  yearns  security. 
Reconciliation  is  7iow  a  fallacious  dream.  Nature  hath 
deserted  the  connection,  and  art  can  not  supply  her  place. 
For,  as  Milton  wisely  expresses,  '  Never  can  true  recon- 
cilement grow  where  wounds  of  deadly  hate  have 
pierced  so  deep.' 

"  Every  quiet  method  for  peace  hath  been  ineffectual. 
Our  prayers  have  been  rejected  with  disdain ;  and  only 
tended  to  convince  us  that  nothing  flatters  vanity  or 
confirms  obstinacy  in  kings  more  than  repeated  petition- 
ing— nothing  hath  contributed  more  than  this  very 
measure  to  make  the  kings  of  Europe  absolute.  Witness 
Denmark  and  Sweden.  Wherefore,  since  nothing  but 
blows  will  do,  for  God's  sake  let  us  come  to  a  final  sep- 
aration, and  not  leave  the  next  generation  to  be  cutting 
throats  under  the  violated,  unmeaning  names  of  parent 
and  child. 

"  To  say  they  will  never  attempt  it  again  is  idle  and 
visionary.  We  thought  so  at  the  repeal  of  the  stamp 
act;  yet  a  year  or  two  undeceived  us.  As  well  may 
14 


212  DECLARATION  OF 

we  suppose  that  nations,  which  have  been  once  defeated, 
will  never  renew  the  quarrel. 

''As  to  government  matters,  it  is  not  in  the  power  of 
Britain  to  do  this  continent  justice.  The  business  of  it 
will  soon  be  too  weighty  and  intricate  to  be  managed 
with  any  tolerable  degree  of  convenience  by  a  power  so 
distant  iiom  us  and  so  very  ignorant  of  us;  for  if  they 
can  not  conquer  us  they  can  not  govern  us.  To  be  al- 
ways running  three  or  four  thousand  miles  with  a  tale 
or  a  ])etition,  waiting  four  or  five  months  for  an  answer, 
which,  when  obtained,  requires  five  or  six  more  to  ex- 
plain it  in,  will  in  a  few  years  be  looked  upon  as  folly 
and  childishness.  There  was  a  time  when  it  was 
proper,  and  there  is  a  proper  time  for  it  to  cease. 

"  Small  islands,  not  capable  of  ])rotecting  themselves, 
are  the  proper  objects  for  kingdoms  to  take  under  their 
care;  but  there  is  something  ai)sui'd  in  su])posinga  con- 
tinent to  be  perpetually  governed  by  an  island.  In  no 
instance  hath  nature  made  the  satellite  larger  than  its 
primary  planet;  and  as  England  and  America,  with 
respect  to  each  other,  reverses  the  common  order  of 
nature,  it  is  evident  that  they  belong  to  different  sys- 
tems: England  to  Europe — America  to  itself. 

"I  am  not  induced  by  motives  of  j)ride,  party,  or 
resentment  to  espouse  the  doctrine  of  separation  and  in- 
dependence. I  am  clearly,  positively,  and  conscientiously 
persuaded  that  it  is  the  true  interest  of  this  continent 
to  be  so ;  that  every  thing  short  of  tJiat  is  mere  patch- 
work;  that  it  can  afford  no  lasting  felicity;  that  it  is 
leaving  the  sword  to  our  children  and  shrinking  back 
at  a  time  when,  going  a  little  further,  would  have 
rendered  this  continent  the  glory  of  the  earth. 

*'As  Britain  hath  not  manifested  the  lejist  inclination 
toward  a  compromise,  we  may  be  assured  that  no  terms 
can  be  obtained  worthy  the  acceptance  of  the  continent, 
or  any  ways  equal  to  the  expense  of  bloo<i  and  treasure 
we  have  l)een  already  put  to. 

"The   object   contended    for  ought   always  to   bear 


INDEPENDENCE.  213 

some  just  proportion  to  the  expense.  The  removal  of 
North,  or  the  whole  detestable  junto,  is  a  matter  un- 
Avorthy  the  millions  we  have  expended.  A  temporary 
stoppage  of  trade  was  an  inconvenience  which  would 
have  sufficiently  balanced  the  repeal  of  all  the  acts  com- 
plained of,  had  such  repeals  been  obtained ;  but  if  the 
whole  continent  must  take  up  arms,  if  every  man  must 
be  a  soldier,  it  is  scarcely  worth  our  while  to  fight  against 
a  contemptible  ministry  only.  Dearly,  dearly  do  we 
pay  for  the  repeal  of  the  acts  if  that  is  all  we  fight  for; 
for,  in  a  just  estimation,  it  is  as  great  a  folly  to  pay  a 
Bunker-hill  price  for  law  as  for  land.  I  have  always 
considered  the  independency  of  this  continent  as  an 
event  which  sooner  or  later  must  take  place,  and,  from 
the  late  rapid  ])rogress  of  the  continent  to  maturity,  the 
event  can  not  be  far  off.  Wherefore,  on  the  breaking 
out  of  hostilities,  it  was  not  worth  the  while  to  have 
disputed  a  matter  which  time  would  have  finally  re- 
dressed, unless  we  meant  to  be  in  earnest;  otherwise,  it 
is  like  wasting  an  estate  on  a  suit  at  law  to  regulate  the 
trespasses  of  a  tenant  whose  lease  is  just  expiring.  No 
man  was  a  warmer  wisher  for  a  reconciliation  than  my- 
self before  the  fatal  nineteenth  of  April,  1775,*  but  the 
moment  the  event  of  that  day  was  made  known,  I  re- 
jected the  hardened,  sullen- tempered  Pharaoh  of  Eng- 
land forever  ;  and  disdain  the  wretch  that,  with  the 
pretended  title  o^  father  of  his  people,  can  unfeelingly 
hear  of  their  slaughter  and  composedly  sleep  with  their 
blood  upon  his  soul. 

"  But  admitting  that  matters  wxre  now  made  up, 
what  would  be  the  event?  I  answer,  the  ruin  of  the 
continent.     And  that  for  several  reasons. 

"  1st.  The  powers  of  governing  still  remaining  in 
the  hands  of  the  king,  he  will  have  a  negative  over  the 
whole  legislation  of  this  continent.  And  as  he  hath 
shown  himself  such  an  inveterate  enemy  to  liberty,  and 
discovered  such  a  thirst  for  arbitrary  power,  is  he,  or 
*  Massacre  at  Lexiugton. 


21 4  DECLARA  TION  OF 

is  he  not,  a  proper  person  to  say  to  these  colonies, 
*  You  shall  make  no  laws  but  what  I  please  f '  And  is 
there  any  inhabitant  of  America  so  ignorant  as  not  to 
know  that,  according  to  what  is  called  the  present  con- 
stitution, this  continent  can  make  no  laws  but  what  the 
king  gives  leave  to?  and  is  there  any  man  so  unwise  as 
not  to  see  that  (considering  what  has  happened)  he  will 
sufler  no  law  to  be  made  here  but  such  as  suits  his  pur- 
pose? We  may  be  as  effectually  enslaved  by  the  want 
of  laws  in  America  as  by  submitting  to  laws  made  for 
us  in  England.  After  matters  are  made  up  (as  it  is 
called),  can  there  be  any  doubt  but  the  whole  power  of 
the  crown  w^ill  be  exerted  to  keep  this  continent  as  low 
and  humble  as  possible?  Instead  of  going  forward, 
we  shall  go  backward,  or  be  perpetually  quarreling  or 
ridiculously  petitiojiing.  We  are  already  greater  than 
the  king  wishes  us  to  be,  and  will  he  not  hereafter  en- 
deavor to  make  us  less?  To  bring  the  matter  to  one 
point,  Is  the  power  who  is  jealous  of  our  prosperity  a 
proper  power  to  govern  us  ?  Whoever  says  No  to  this 
question  is  an  independeiit,  for  independency  means  no 
more  than  this,  whether  we  shall  make  our  own  laws, 
or  whether  the  king,  the  greatest  enemy  which  this  con- 
tinent hath  or  can  have,  shall  tell  us,  'There  shall  be 
no  laws  but  such  as  I  likeJ 

^'But  the  king,  you  will  say,  has  a  ijegative  in  Eng- 
land; the  ])eople  there  can  make  no  laws  without  his 
consent.  In  point  of  right  and  good  order,  it  is  some- 
thing very  ridiculous  that  a  youth  of  twenty-one  (which 
hath  often  happened)  shall  say  to  several  millions  of 
pt^ople,  older  and  wiser  than  himself,  I  forbid  this  or 
that  act  of  yours  to  be  law.  Hut  in  this  place  I  decline 
this  sort  of  reply,  though  I  will  never  a^ase  to  oxpase 
the  absurdity  of  it ;  and  only  answer  that,  England  be- 
ing the  king's  residence  and  America  not  makes  quite 
another  case.  The  king's  negative  here  is  ten  times 
more  dangerous  and  fatal  than  it  can  be  in  England; 
for  there  he  will  scarcely  refuse  his  consent  to  a  bill  for 


INDEPENDENCE,  215 

putting  England  into  as  strong  a  state  of  defense  as  pos- 
sible, and  in  America  he  would  never  suffer  such  a  bill 
to  be  passed. 

^'America  is  only  a  secondary  object  in  the  system 
of  British  politics — England  consults  the  good  of  this 
country  no  further  than  it  answers  her  own  purpose. 
Wherefore,  her  own  interest  leads  her  to  suppress  the 
growth  of  ours  in  every  case  which  doth  not  promote 
her  advantage,  or  in  the  least  interferes  with  it.  A 
pretty  state  we  should  soon  be  in  under  such  a  second- 
hand government,  considering  what  has  happened! 
Men  do  not  change  from  enemies  to  friends  by  the  al- 
teration of  a  name;  and  in  order  to  show  that  reconcil- 
iation now  is  a  dangerous  doctrine,  I  affirm  that  it  would 
be  policy  in  the  king  at  this  time  to  repeal  the  acts,  for 
the  sake  of  7xinstating  himself  in  the  .government  of  the 
provinces;  in  order  that  he  may  accomplish  by  craft  and 
subtlety,  in  the  long  run,  what  he  can  not  do  by  force 
in  the  short  one.  Reconciliation  and  ruin  are  nearly 
related. 

"2dly.  That  as  even  the  best  terms  which  we  can 
expect  to  obtain  can  amount  to  no  more  than  a  tempo- 
rary expedient,  or  a  kind  of  government  by  guardian- 
ship, which  can  last  no  longer  than  till  the  colonies  come 
of  age,  so  the  general  face  and  state  of  things,  in  the 
interim,  will  be  unsettled  and  unpromising.  Emigrants 
of  pro})erty  will  not  choose  to  come  to  a  country  whose 
form  of  government  hangs  but  by  a  thread,  and  which 
is  every  day  tottering  on  the  brink  of  commotion  and 
disturbance;  and  numbers  of  the  present  inhabitants 
would  lay  hold  of  the  interval  to  dispose  of  their  effects 
and  quit  the  continent. 

**But  the  most  powerful  of  all  arguments  is,  that 
nothing  but  independence,  i.e., a  continental  form  of  gov- 
ernment, can  keep  the  peace  of  the  continent  and  preserve 
it  inviolate  from  civil  wars.  I  dread  the  event  of  a 
reconciliation  with  Britain  now,  as  it  is  more  than  prob- 
able that  it  will  be  followed  by  a  revolt  somewhere  or 


216  DECLARATION  OF 

other,  the  consequences  of  which  may  be  far  more  fatal 
than  all  the  malice  of  Britain. 

"Thousands  are  already  ruined  by  British  barbarity. 
(Thousands  more  will  ])robably  suffer  the  same  fate.) 
Those  men  have  other  feelings  than  us  who  have  noth- 
ing suHered.  All  they  now  possess  is  liberty ;  what 
they  before  enjoyed  is  sacrificed  to  its  service,  and,  hav- 
ing nothing  more  to  lose,  they  disdain  submission. 
Besides,  the  general  temper  of  the  colonies  toward  a  Brit- 
ish government  will  be  like  that  of  a  youth  who  is  nearly 
out  of  his  time — they  will  care  very  little  about  her. 
And  a  government  which  can  not  preserve  the  peace  is 
no  government  at  all,  and  in  that  case  we  pay  our  money 
for  nothing;  and  pray  what  is  it  that  Britain  can  do, 
whose  power  will  be  wholly  on  paper,  should  a  civil  tu- 
mult break  out  the  very  day  after  reconciliation?  I 
have  heard  some  men  say,  many  of  whom  I  believe  spoke 
without  thinking,  that  they  dreaded  an  independence, 
fearing  that  it  would  produce  civil  wars.  It  is  but 
seldom  that  our  first  thoughts  are  truly  correct,  and 
that  is  the  case  here ;  for  there  is  ten  times  more  to 
dread  from  a  patched  up  connection  than  from  inde- 
pendence. I  make  the  sutferer^s  case  my  own,  and  I 
protest  that,  were  I  driven  from  house  and  home,  my 
property  destroyed,  and  my  circumstances  ruined,  that 
as  a  man  sensible  of  injuries,  I  could  never  relish  the 
doctrine  of  reconciliation  or  consider  myself  bound 
thereby. 

*'The  colonies  have  manifested  such  a  spirit  of  good 
order  and  obedience  to  continental  government,  as  is 
sufficient  to  make  every  reasonable  person  easy  aud 
happy  on  that  head.  No  man  can  assign  the  least  j)re- 
tense  for  liis  fears  on  any  other  grounds  than  sucli  as  are 
truly  childish  and  ridiculous,  viz.:  that  one  colony  will 
be  striving  for  superiority  over  another. 

"  Where  there  are  no  (listinctions  there  can  be  no  su- 
periority; perfect  ecjuaiity  affords  no  temptation.  The 
republics  of  Europe  are  all  (and  we  may  say  always)  ia 


INDEPENDENCE.  217 

peace.  Holland  and  Switzerland  are  without  wars, 
foreign  or  domestic.  Monarchical  governments,  it  is 
true,  are  never  long  at  rest;  the  crown  itself  is  a  temp- 
tation to  enterprising  ruffians  at  home,  and  that  degree 
of  pride  and  insolence,  ever  attendant  on  regal  author- 
ity, swells  into  a  rupture  with  foreign  powers  in  in- 
stances where  a  republican  government,  by  being  formed 
on  more  natuwd  principles,  would  negotiate  the  mistake. 

"  If  there  is  any  true  cause  of  fear  respecting  inde- 
pendence, it  is  because  no  plan  is  yet  laid  down.  Men 
do  not  see  their  way  out.  Wherefore,  as  an  opening 
into  that  business,  I  offer  the  following  hints,  at  the 
same  time  modestly  affirming  that  I  have  no  other  opin- 
ion of  them  myself  than  that  they  may  be  the  means  of 
giving  rise  to  something  better.  Could  the  straggling 
thoughts  of  individuals  be  collected,  they  would  fre- 
quently form  materials  for  wise  and  able  men  to  improve 
into  useful  matter : 

"  Let  the  assemblies  be  annual,  with  a  president  only. 
The  representation  more  equal.  Their  business  wholly 
domestic,  and  subject  to  the  authority  of  a  continental 
congress. 

"  Let  each  colony  be  divided  into  six,  eight,  or  ten 
convenient  districts,  each  district  to  send  a  proper  num- 
ber of  delegates  to  congress,  so  that  each  colony  send  at 
least  thirty.  The  whole  number  in  congress  will  be  at 
least  three  hundred  and  ninety.     Each  congress  to  sit 

,  tind  to   choose   a   president   by  the   following 

method:  When  the  delegates  are  met,  let  a  colony  be 
taken  from  the  whole  tliirteeu  colonies  by  lot,  after 
which  let  the  congress  choose  (by  ballot)  a  presi- 
dent from  out  of  the  delegates  of  that  province.  In 
the  next  congress,  let  a  colony  be  taken  by  lot  from 
twelve  only,  omitting  that  colony  irom  which  the  presi- 
dent was  taken  in  the  former  congress,  and  so  proceed- 
ing on  till  the  whole  thirteen  shall  have  had  their 
proper  rotation.  And,  in  order  that  nothing  may  pass 
into  a  law  but  what  is  satisfactorily  just,  not  less  than 


21 8  DECLA  RA  TTON  OF 

three-fifths  of  the  congress  to  be  called  a  majority.  He 
that  will  promote  discord,  under  a  government  so  equally 
formed  as  this,  would  have  joined  Lucifer  in  his  revolt. 

"But,  as  there  is  a  peculiar  delicacy  from  whom,  or 
in  what  manner,  this  business  must  first  arise,  and  as  it 
seems  most  agreeable  and  consistent  that  it  should  come 
from  some  intermediate  body  between  the  governed  and 
the  governors — that  is,  between  the  congress  and  the 
people — let  a  Continental  Conference  be  held,  in  the  fol- 
lowing manner,  and  for  the  following  purpose: 

"A  committee  of  twenty-six  members  of  congress, 
viz.:  two  for  each  colony ;  two  members  from  each 
house  of  assembly,  or  provincial  convention,  and  five 
representatives  of  the  peo])le  at  large,  to  be  chosen  in 
the  capital  city  or  town  of  each  ])rovince,  for  and  in  be- 
half of  the  whole  province,  by  as  many  qualified  voters 
as  shall  think  proper  to  attend  from  all  parts  of  the 
province  for  that  purpose;  or,  if  more  convenient,  the 
re])resentatives  may  be  chosen  in  two  or  three  of  the 
most  populous  parts  thereof.  In  this  conference,  thus 
assembled,  will  be  united  the  two  grand  principles  of 
business — knoiv/edf/c  and  power.  The  members  of  con- 
gress, assemblies,  or  conventions,  by  liaving  had  expe- 
rience in  national  concerns,  will  be  able  and  useful 
counselors,  and  the  whole,  being  empowered  by  the 
])eoj)le,  will  have  a  truly  legal  authority. 

"The  conferring  members  being  met,  let  their  busi- 
ness be  to  i'rame  a  Continental  Charter^  or  Charter  of 
the  United  Colonies  (answering  to  what  is  called  the 
Magna  Charta  of  England) ;  fixing  the  number  and 
manner  of  choosing  members  of  congress  and  members 
of  assembly,  with  tlieir  dafe  of  sitting,  and  drawing  the 
line  of  l)usiness  and  jurisdiction  between  them  (always 
remembering  that  our  strength  is  continental,  not  pro- 
vincial); securing  fr(»ed()m  and  ])roperty  to  alt  men, 
and,  above  all  things,  the  free  exercise  of  religion,  ac- 
cording to  the  dictates  of  conscience;  with  sucii  other 
matter  as  it  is  necessary  for  a  charter  to  contain.     Ini- 


INDEPENDENCE.  219 

mediately  after  which,  the  said  conference  to  dissolve, 
and  the  bodies  which  shall  be  chosen  conformable  to  the 
said  charter  to  be  the  legislators  and  governors  of  this 
continent  for  the  time  being :  whose  peace  and  happi- 
ness may  God  preserve.     Amen. 

'*  Should  any  body  of  men  be  hereafter  delegated  for 
this  or  some  similar  purpose,  I  oifer  them  the  following 
extract  from  that  wise  observer  on  governments,  Drago- 
netti :  'The  science/  says  he,  'of  the  politician  con- 
sists in  fixing  the  true  point  of  happiness  and  freedom. 
Those  men  would  deserve  the  gratitude  of  ages  who 
should  discover  a  mode  of  government  that  contained 
the  greatest  sum  of  of  individual  happiness,  with  the 
least  national  expense.^ 

^'  But  where,  say  some,  is  the  king  of  America?  I  ^11 
tell  you,  friend  :  he  reigns  above,  and  doth  not  make 
havoc  of  mankind  like  the  royal  brute  of  Britain.  Yet, 
that  we  may  not  appear  to  be  defective  even  in  earthly 
honors,  let  a  day  be  solemnly  set  apart  for  proclaiming 
the  charter;  let  it  be  brought  forth  placed  on  the  divine 
law^,  the  Word  of  God ;  let  a  crown  be  placed  thereon, 
by  which  the  world  may  know  that,  so  far  as  we  ap- 
prove of  monarchy,  that  in  America  the  law  is  king. 
For  as  in  absolute  governments  the  king  is  law,  so  in 
free  countries  the  law  ought  to  be  king;  and  there 
ought  to  be  no  other.  But,  lest  any  ill  use  should  af- 
terward arise,  let  the  crown,  at  the  conclusiou  of  the 
ceremony,  be  demolished,  and  scattered  among  the  peo- 
ple, whose  right  it  is. 

"A  government  of  our  own  is  our  natural  right;  and 
when  a  man  seriously  reflects  on  the  precariousiiess  of 
human  affairs,  he  will  become  convinced  that  it  is  infi- 
nitely wiser  and  safer  to  form  a  constitution  of  our  own 
in  a  cool,  deliberate  manner,  while  we  have  it  in  our 
power,  than  to  trust  such  an  interesting  event  to  time 
and  chance.  If  we  omit  it  now,  some  Massanello  may 
hereafter  arise,  who,  laying  hold  of  popular  disqui- 
etudes, may  collect  together  the  desperate  and  the  dis- 


220  DECLARATION  OF 

contented,  and,  by  assuming  to  tliemselvos  the  powers 
of  government,  finally  sweep  away  the  liberties  of  the 
continent  like  a  deluge.  Should  the  government  of 
America  return  again  into  the  hands  of  Britain,  the  tot- 
tering situation  of  things  will  be  a  temptation  for  some 
desperate  adventurer  to  try  his  fortune;  and,  in  such  a 
case,  what  relief  can  Britain  give?  Ere  she  could  hear 
the  news  the  fatal  business  might  be  done,  and  ourselves 
suffering,  like  the  wretched  Britons,  under  the  op])res- 
sion  of  the  Conqueror.  Ye  that  opjwse  independence 
now,  ye  know  not  what  ye  do:  ye  are  opening  a  door 
to  eternal  tyranny,  by  kee})ing  vacant  the- seat  of  gov- 
ernmcMit.  There  are  thousands,  and  tens  of  thousands, 
who  would  think  it  glorious  to  expel  from  the  continent 
that  barbaious  and  hellish  power,  which  hath  stirred 
up  the  Indians  and  negroes  to  destroy  us.  The  cruelty 
hath  a  double  guilt — it  is  dealing  brutally  by  us,  and 
treacherously  by  tliem. 

*^  To  talk  of  friendship  M'ith  those  in  whom  our  rea- 
son forbids  us  to  have  faith,  and  our  affections,  wounded 
through  a  thousand  pores,  instruct  us  to  detest,  is  mad-- 
iiess  and  folly.  Every  day  wears  out  the  little  remains 
of  kindred  between  us  and  them;  and  can  there  be  any 
reason  to  hope  that,  as  the  relationship  expiies,  the  af- 
fection will  increase,  or  that  we  shall  agree  better  wheti 
we  have  ten  times  more  and  gi-eater  concerns  to  quarrel 
over  than  ever? 

*^  Ye  that  tell  us  of  harmony  and  reconciliation,  can 
ye  restore  to  us  the  time  that  is  past?  Can  ye  give  to 
})rostitution  its  former  innocence?  Neither  can  ye  ro<"- 
oncile  j^ritain  and  America.  The  last  cord  now  is 
broken;  the  j)('o|)le  of  England  are  presenting  addresses 
against  us.  There  are  injuries  which  nature  can  not 
forgive — she  would  cease  to  be  nature  if  she  did.  As 
well  can  the  lover  forgive  the  ravisher  of  his  mistress, 
as  the  continent  forgive  the  murdei'S  of  Britain.  The 
Abnighty  hath  implanted  in  us  these  nnextinguishable 
feelings  for  good  and  wise  purposes.    They  are  the  guard- 


'  INDEPENDENCE.  221 

iaiis  of  his  image  in  our  hearts,  and  distinguish  us 
from  the  herd  of  common  animals.  The  social  compact 
would  dissolve,  and  justice  be  extirpated  from  the  earth, 
or  have  only  a  casual  existence,  were  we  callous  to  the 
touches  of  aifection.  The  robber  and  the  murderer 
would  often  escape  unpunished,  did  not  the  injuries 
which  our  tempers  sustain  provoke  us  into  justice. 

''Oh,  ye  that  love  mankind!  Ye  that  dare  oppose, 
not  only  the  tyranny,  but  the  tyrant,  stand  forth  !  Ev- 
ery spot  of  the  old  world  is  overrun  with  o})pression. 
Freedom  hath  been  haunted  round  the  globe.  Asia 
and  Africa  have  long  expelled  her.  Europe  regards 
•her  like  a  stranger,  and  England  hath  given  her  warn- 
ing to  depart.  Oh  !  receive  the  fugitive,  and  prepare 
in  time  an  asylum  for  mankind." 

OKIGINAL    DECLARATION.* 

I  now  place  before  the  reader  the  original  draft  of 
the  Declaration  of  Independence,  as  it  was  presented  by 
Jefferson.  I  have  placed  in  brackets  the  matter  struck 
out  or  amended  by  Congress. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  Mr.  Jeiferson  was  chair- 
man of  the  committee  to  draft  the  document;  Benja- 
min Franklin,  John  Adams,  Roger  Sherman,  and  R.  R. 
Livingston,  being  the  other  four  of  the  committee;  that 
they  changed  but  a  word  or  two  in  it;  and  that  John 
Adams  became  its  champion  in  Congress,  and  fought 
manfully  for  every  word  of  it.  Jeiferson  said  nothing, 
as  he  scarcely  ever  spoke  in  public: 

1.  ''When  in  the  course  of  human  events  it  becomes 
necessary  for  one  people  to  dissolve  the  political  bonds 
which  have  connected  them  with  another,  and  to  as- 
sume among  the  powers  of  the  earth  the  separate  and 
equal   station  to  which  the  laws  of  nature  and  of  na- 

*See  Note  A,  page  277. 


222  DECLARATION  OF 

ture's  God  entitle  them,  a  decent  respect  for  the  opin- 
ions of  mankind  requires  that  they  should  declare  the 
causes  which  impel  them  to  the  separation. 

2.  *^  We  hold  these  truths  to  be  self-evident,  that  all 
men  are  created  equal ;  that  they  are  endowed  by  their 
Creiitor  with  [inherent  and]  inalienable  rights  ;  that 
among  these  are  life,  liberty,  and  the  i)ursuit  of  happi- 
ness; that  to  secure  these  rights,  governments  are  in- 
stituted among  men,  deriving  their  just  powers  from 
the  consent  of  the  governed ;  that  whenever  any  form 
of  government  becomes  destructive  of  these  ends,  it  is 
the  right  of  the  i)eople  to  alter  and  abolish  it,  and  to 
institute  new  government,  laying  its  foundations  on  such 
principles,  and  organizing  its  powers  in  such  form, 
as  to  them  shall  seem  most  likely  to  effect  their  safety 
and  happiness.  Prudence,  indeed,  will  dictate  that  gov- 
ernments long  established  should  not  be  changed  for 
light  and  transient  causes;  and  accordingly  all  expe- 
rience hath  shown,  that  mankind  are  more  disposed  to 
suffer,  while  evils  are  sufferable,  than  to  right  them- 
selves by  abolishing  the  forms  to  which  they  are  ac- 
customed. But  when  a  long  train  of  abuses  and  usur- 
])ations,  [begun  at  a  distinguished  period,  and]  pursuing 
invarial)ly  the  same  object,  evinces  a  design  to  reduce 
them  under  absolute  despotism,  it  is  their  right,  it  is 
tlieir  duty,  to  throw  off  such  government,  and  to  pro- 
vide new  guards  for  their  future  security.  Such  has 
been  tlie  patient  sufferings  of  these  colonies;  and  such 


is  now  the  necessity  which  constrains  them  to  [expunge] 

;.     The  history  of 
the  present  king  of  Great  Britain,  isa  history  of  [un- 


their  former  systems  of  government. 


remitting]  injuries  and  usurpations,  [among  which  ap- 
])ears  no  solitary  fact  to  contradict  the  uniform  tenor  of 
the  rest,  but  all  have]  in  direct  object  the  establishment 
of  an  absolute  tyranny  over  these  states.  To  prove 
this,  let  facts  be  submitted  to  a  candid  world,  [for  the 
truth  of  which  we  pledge  a  faith  yet  unsullied  by  false- 
liood.] 


INDEPENDENCE,  223 

3.  ^^  He  has  refused  his  assent  to  laws  the  most  whole- 
some and  necessary  for  the  public  good. 

4.  ^'He  has  forbidden  his  governors  to  pass  laws  of 
immediate  and  pressing  importance,  unless  suspended 
in  their  operation  till  his  assent  should  be  obtained; 
and  when  so  suspended,  he  has  utterly  neglected  to  at- 
tend to  them. 

5.  ^'  He  has  refused  to  pass  other  laws  for  the  accom- 
modation of  large  districts  of  people,  unless  those  peo- 
ple would  relinquish  the  right  of  representation  in  the 
legislature,  a  right  inestimable  to  them  and  formidable 
to  tyrants  only. 

6.  "He  has  called  together  legislative  bodies  at  places 
unusual,  uncomfortable,  and  distant  from  the  depository 
of  their  public  records,  for  the  sole  purpose  of  fatiguing 
them  into  compliance  with  his  measures. 

7.  "He  has  dissolved  representative  houses,  repeat- 
edly [and  continually]  for  opposing,  with  manly  firm- 
ness, his  invasions  on  the  rights  of  the  people. 

8.  "  He  has  refused,  for  a  long  time  after  such  disso- 
lutions, to  cause  others  to  be  elected,  whereby  the  legis- 
lative powers,  incapable  of  annihilation,  have  returned 
to  the  people  at  large  for  their  exercise,  the  state  re- 
maining, in  the  meantime,  exposed  to  dangers  of  inva- 
sions from  without  and  convulsions  within. 

9.  "He  has  endeavored  to  prevent  the  population  of 
these  states;  for  tliat  purpose  obstructing  the  laws  for 
naturalization  of  foreigners,  refusing  to  pass  others  to 
encourage  their  migrations  hither,  and  raising  the  con- 
ditions of  new  appropriations  of  lands. 

10.  "He  has  [suffered]  the  administration  of  justice 
[totally  to  cease  in  some  of  these  states],  refusing  his 

.  assent  to  laws  for  establisliing  judiciary  powers. 

11.  "He  has  made  [our]  judges  dependent  on  his  will 
alone  for  the  tenure  of  their  offices,  and  the  amount  and 
payment  of  their  salaries. 

12.  "He  has  erected  a  multitude  of  new  offices  [by 
a  self-assumed  power],  and  sent  hither  swarms  of  new 


224  DECLARATION  OF 

officers  to  harass   our  people  and    eat   out   their  sub- 
stance. 

13.  *^  He  has  kept  among  us  in  times  of  peace 
standing  armies  [and  ships  of  war]  without  tlie  consent 
of  our  legislatures. 

14.  '^  He  has  affected  to  render  the  military  inde- 
pendent of  and  superior  to  the  civil  power. 

15.  "He  has  combined  with  others  to  subject  us  to  a 
jurisdiction  foreign  to  our  constitutions,  and  unac- 
knowledged by  our  laws,  giving  his  assent  to  their  acts 
of  pretended  legislation  for  quartering  large  bodies  of 
armed  troops  among  us;  for  protecting  by  a  mock  trial 
from  jHinishment,  any  murders  which  tliey  should  com- 
mit on  the  inhabitants  of  these  states ;  for  cutting  off  our 
trade  with  all  ports  of  the  world;  for  imposing  taxes 
on  us  without  our  consent ;  for  de[)rivi!ig  us  of  the 
benefits  of  trial  by  jury;  for  transporting  us  beyond 
seas  to  be  tried  for  pretended  offenses;  for  abolishing 
the  free  system  of  English  laws  in  a  neighboring  prov- 
ince, establishing  therein  an  arbitrary  government,  and 
enlarging  its  boundaries  so  as  to  render  it  at  once  an 
example  and  fit  instrument  for  introducing  the  same 
absolute  rule  in  these  [states] ;  for  taking  away  our 
charters,  abolishing  our  most  valuable  laws,  and  alter- 
ing, fundamentally,  the  forms  of  our  governments; 
for  sus[)ending  our  own  legislatures,  and  declaring 
themselves  invested  with  power  to  legislate  for  us  in  all 
cases  whatsoever. 

IG.  "  He  has  abdicated  government  here  [withdraw- 
ing his  governors  and  declaring  us  out  of  his  allegiance 
and  protection]. 

17.  **  He  has  plundered  our  seas,  ravaged  our  coasts, 
burnt  onr  towns,  and  destroyed  tiie  lives  of  our 
people. 

18.  "He  is  at  this  time  transporting  large  armies 
of  foreign  mercenaries,  to  complete  the  works  of  death, 
desolation,  and  tyranny  already    begun,  with  circum- 


INDEPENDENCE.  225 

stances  of  cruelty  and  perfidy^  unworthy  tlic  liead  of  a 
civilized  nation. 

19.  ^^  He  has  constrained  our  fellow-citizens,  taken 
captive  on  the  high  seas,  to  bear  arms  against  their 
country,  to  become  the  executioners  of  their  fi-iends  and 
brethren,  or  to  fall  tliemselves  by  their  hands. 

20.  "  He  has  endeavored  to  bring  on  the  inhabitants 
of  the  frontiers  the  merciless  Indian  savages,  whose 
known  rule  of  warfare  is  an  undistinguished  destruc- 
tion of  all  ages,  sexes,  and  conditions  of  [existence]. 

21.  ["  He  has  excited  treasonable  insurrection  of  our 
fellow-citizens,  with  the  alhirements  of  forfeiture  and 
confiscation  of  our  property.] 

22.  [^'  He  has  waged  cruel  war  against  human  nature 
itself,  violating  its  most  sacred  rights  of  life  and  lib- 
erty in  the  persons  of  a  distant  people  who  nevpr 
offended  liim,  captivating  and  carrying  them  into 
slavery  in  another  hemisphere,  or  to  inci^r  miserable 
death  in  their  transportation  thither.  This  ])iratical 
warfare,  the  opprobrium  of  INFIDEL  powers,  is  the 
warflire  of  the  CHRISTIAN  king  of  Great  Britain. 
Determined  to  keep  open  a  market  where  MEN 
should  be  bought  and  sold,  he  has  ])rostituted  his  nega- 
tive for  suppressing  every  legislative  attem})t  to  pro- 
hibit or  restrain  this  execrable  commerce.  And  that 
tliis  assemblage  of  horrors  might  want  no  fact  of  dis- 
tinguished die,  he  is  now  exciting  those  very  people  to 
rise  in  arms  among  us,  and  to  purchase  that  liberty  of 
which  he  has  deprived  them,  by  murdering  the  people 
on  whom  he  has  obtruded  them;  thus  paying  off 
former  crimes  committed  against  the  LIBERTIES  of 
one  people  with  crimes  which  he  urges  them  to  com- 
mit against  the  LIVES  of  another.] 

23.  "  In  every  stage  of  these  oppressions  we  have 
l)etitioned  for  redress  in  the  most  humble  terms;  our 
repeated  petitions  have  been  answered  only  by  repeated 
injuries. 

24.  *^A  prince  whose  character  is  thus  marked  by 


226  DECLARATION  OF 

every  act  which  may  define  a  tyrant,  is  unfit  to  be  the 
ruler  of  a  people  [who  mean  to  be  free.  Future  ages 
will  scarcely  believe  that  the  hardiness  of  one  man  ad- 
ventured, within  the  short  compass  of  twelve  years  only, 
to  lay  a  foundation  so  broad  and  so  undisguised  for 
tyranny  over  a  people  fostered  and  fixed  in  principles 
of  freedom.] 

25.  '*  Nor  hav^e  we  been  wanting  in  attention  to  ouj- 
British  bretliren.  We  have  warned  them  from  time  to 
time  of  attempts,  by  their  legislature,  to  extend  [a]  ju- 
risdiction over  [these,  our  States.]  We  have  reminded 
them  of  the  circumstances  of  our  emigration  and  settle- 
ment here,  [no  one  of  which  would  warrant  so  strange 
a  pretention.  These  were  effected  at  the  expense  of  our 
own  blood  and  treasure,  unassisted  by  the  wealth  or 
strength  of  Great  Britain;  that  in  constituting,  indecMl, 
our  several  forms  of  government,  we  had  ado})ted  onv. 
common  king,  thereby  laying  a  foundation  for  ])erpet- 
ual  league  and  amity  with  them ;  but  that  submission 
to  their  Parliament  was  no  part  of  our  constitution,  nor 
ever  in  idea,  if  history  may  be  credited  ;  and]  we  ap- 
pealed to  their  native  justice  and  magnanijiiity,  [as  well 
as  to]  the  ties  of  our  common  kindred,  to  disavow  these 
usurpations,  which  [were  likely]  to  interrupt  our  con- 
nection and  correspondence.  They,  too,  have  been 
deaf  to  the  voice  of  justice  and  consanguinity ;  [and 
when  occasions  have  been  given  them,  l)y  the  regular 
course  of  their  laws,  of  removing  from  their  councils 
the  disturbers  of  our  harmony,  they  have,  by  their  free 
election,  reestablished  them  in  power.  At  this  very 
time,  too,  they  are  permitting  their  chief  magistrate  to 
send  ov^er  not  only  soldiers  of  our  eoiuMion  blood,  but 
Scotch  and  i'oreign  mercenaries,  to  invade  and  destroy 
us.  These  facts  have  given  the  last  stab  to  ago- 
nizing affection,  and  manly  spirit  bids  us  renounce 
forever  these  unfeeling  bretliren.  We  must  endeavor 
to  forget  our  former  love  for  them,]  and  hold  them  as 
we  hohl  tlie  rest  of  mankind — enemies  in  war,  in  peace 


INDEPENDENCE.  227 

friends.  [We  might  have  been  a  free  and  a  great 
people  together;  but  a  communion  of  grandeur  and  of 
freedom,  it  seems,  is  below  their  dignity.  Be  it  so, 
since  they  will  have  it.  The  road  to  happiness  and 
to  glory  is  open  to  us,  too.  We  will  tread  it  apart  from 
them,  and]  acquiesce  in  the  necessity  which  denounces 
our  [eternal]  separation. 

26.  ''  We,  therefore,  the  representatives  of  the  United 
States  of  America,  in  general  Congress  assembled,  do, 
in  the  name  and  by  the  authority  of  the  good  people 
of  these  [States,  reject  and  renounce  all  allegiance  and 
subjection  to  the  King  of  Great  Britain,  and  all  others 
who  may  hereafter  claim  by,  through,  or  under  them ; 
we  utterly  dissolve  all  political  connection  which  may 
heretofore  have  subsisted  between  us  and  the  people  or 
Parliament  of  Great  Britain  ;  and,  finally,  we  do  assert 
and  declare  these  colonies  to  be  free  and  independent 
States;]  and. that,  as  free  and  independent  States,  they 
have  full  power  to  levy  war,  conclude  peace,  contract 
alliances,  establish  commerce,  and  to  do  all  other  acts 
and  things  which  independent  States  may  of  right  do. 

"  And  for  the  support  of  this  declaration,  we  mutu- 
ally pledge  to  each  other  our  lives,  our  fortunes,  and 
our  sacred  honor." 

ANALYSIS. 

We  have  to  do  with  the  original  draft,  and  to  let 
the  reader  see  the  hand  of  a  master,  I  will  analyze  it. 

"  I  love  method,"  said  Mr.  Paine.  The  method  of 
the  piece  stands  as  follows,  and,  for  the  sake  of  elucida- 
tion, I  have  numbered  the  paragraphs  in  the  original ; 

I.  Introduction,  viz: — Paragraph  1. 
II.  Bill  of  Rights — Paragraph  2. 
III.   Indictment — under  three  general  charges :  Usur- 
pation.  Abdication,  and  War,  as  follows: 
15 


228  DECLARATION  OF 


USURPATION. 


Par.  3,  4,  5 — Laws  usurped,  and  hereunder: 

a.  Negatived. 

b.  Forbidden  and  neglected. 

c.  Refused,  unless  rights  are  surrendered. 

Par.  6, 7,  8, 9 — Legislation  usurped, and  hereunder: 
a.  Legislative  bodies  meet  at  the  wrong  place. 
6.  Legislative  bodies  dissolved. 

c.  Refused  to  have  them  elected. 

d.  Obstructing  legislation  for  naturalization. 

Par.  10, 11, 12 — Judiciary  powers  usurped,  and  here- 
under : 

a.  Destroyed  by  his  negative.* 

h.  Made  the  judges  dependent  on  his  will, 

c.  And  erected  new  offices  by  his  own  will. 
Par.  13, 14 — Military  powers  usurped,  and  hereunder: 

a.  Established  without  consent  of  legislatures. 

h.  Made  superior  to  civil  power. 
Par.  15 — Jurisdiction  usurped,  and  hereunder: 

a.  Troops,  the  quartering  of. 

6.  Trial,  of  a  mock  nature. 

c.  Trade,  the  cutting  off. 

d.  Taxes,  without  consent. 

e.  Trial,  depriving  of.  > 
/.  Transportation,  to  be 

g.  Tried,  for  pretended  offenses. 
h.  Laws,  abolishing  the  English. 
L  Charters,  the  taking  of. 
y.  Laws,  abolishing  special  ones. 
h  Constitutions,  altering  form  of. 
L  Legislatures,  suspension  of. 
m.  Power,  to  legislate  for  us  iu  all  case5»  whatsoever. 


INDEPENDENCE. 


229 


ABDICATION. 

Par.  16 — Declaring  us  out  of  his  allegiance  and  pro- 
tection. 

WAR. 

Par.  17 — Warfare  begun,  and  hereunder: 

a.  Seas  plundered. 

b.  Coasts  ravaged. 

c.  Towns  burnt. 

d.  Lives  destroyed. 
Par.  18 — Invasion. 

Par.  19 — Pressing  of  seamen. 
Par.  20 — Indian  massacres. 
Par.  21 — Insurrection. 

Par.  22 — Waging  war  against  human  nature. 
IV.     Peaceful  Method  of  Redress,  viz:     Peti- 
tioning— -Paragraph  23. 
y.     Necessity  of  Separation— declared  in  Para- 
graphs 24,  25. 
VI.     Powers    of   an   Independent    State   De- 
clared TO  THE  World — in  Paragraph  26. 

ARGUMENT. 

Let  us  now  examine  Articles  III,  IV,  V,  and  VI. 
As  they  form  the  piece  proper,  namely,  the  indictment 
and  the  declaration  thereunder,  let  us  compare  them 
with  reference  to  the  following: 

In  the  conclusion  of  Common  Sense  Mr.  Paine  wrote: 
*'  Should  a  manifesto  be  published  and  dispatched  to 
foreign  courts  setting  forth — 

I.  "  The  miseries  we  have  endured ;  [This  is  Art. 
Ill  of  the  Declaration.] 


230  DECLARATION  OF 

II.  "  The  peaceful  methods  which  we  have  ineffect- 
ually used  for  redress ;  [This  is  Art.  IV  of  the  Declara- 
tion.] 

III.  "  Declaring  at  the  same  time  that,  not  being 
able  any  longer  to  live  happily  or  safely  under  the 
cruel  disposition  of  the  British  court,  we  had  been 
driven  to  the  necessity  of  breaking  off  all  connection 
with  her;  [This  is  Art.  V  of  the  Declaration.] 

IV.  ^'At  the  same  time  assuring  all  courts  of  our 
peaceful  disposition  toward  them,  and  of  our  desire  of 
entering  into  trade  with  them.^'  [This  is  Art.  VI  of 
the  Declaration.] 

Here  are,  in  their  order ^  the  directions  for  producing 
the  four  last  articles  of  the  famous  document,  and 
which  constitute,  as  a  special  instrument,  all  there  is 
of  it.  Did  Mr.  Jefferson  study  this  production  of 
Thomas  Paine's  so  closely  as  to  get  the  exact  order, 
without  transposing  an  article?  A  cursory  reading 
would  not  do  this,  and  if  he  did  not  study  it  for  this 
purpose,  then  the  same  peculiar  mind  belonged  to  Jef- 
fei'son  that  belonged  to  Thomas  Paine;  and  in  writing 
the  Declaration  a  greater  special  miracle  was  performed 
than  any  recorded  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth. 

In  the  above  there  is  a  striking  coincidence  of  docu- 
mentary facts,  in  the  same  order,  and  it  is  safe  to  say 
there  is  not  one  man  in  a  million  who,  in  reailing  Com- 
mon Sense,  would  remember  this  order,  unless  he  read 
it  with  such  special  purpose.  But  it  is  known  Jeffer- 
SQi^  never  consulted  a  book  or  paper  ujxm  the  subject, 
nor  for  the  purpose  of  producing  it.  Here  is  what 
Bancroft  says,  and  I  have  found  him  to  l>o  a  truthful 
historian  as  to  current  facts  touching  on  the  subject : 


INDEPENDENQE.  231 

"  From  the  fullness  of  his  own  mind,  without  con- 
sulting one  single  book,  Jefferson  drafted  the  Declara- 
tion ;  he  submitted  it  separately  to  Franklin  and  John 
Adams,  accepted  from  each  of  them  one  or  two  verbal 
unimportant  corrections,^^  etc. — Hist.,  vol.  viii,  p.  465. 

The  above  history  is  doubtless  taken  from  the  reply 
of  Mr.  Jefferson  to  attacks  on  the  originality  of  the 
Declaration,  which  is  as  follows  :  "  Pickering's  observa- 
tions and  Mr.  Adams'  in  addition,  ^  that  it  contained  no 
new  ideas ;  that  it  is  a  common-place  compilation ;  its 
sentiments  hackneyed  in  Congress  for  two  years  before, 
and  its  essence  contained  in  Otis'  pamphlet,'  may  all  be 
true.  Of  that  lam  not  to  be  the  judge.  Richard  Hienry 
Lee  charged  it  as  copied  from  Locke's  Treatise  on  Gov- 
ernment. Otis'  pamphlet  I  never  saw;  and  whether  I 
had  gathered  my  ideas  from  reading,  I  do  not  know.  I 
know  only  that  I  turned  to  neither  book  nor  pamphlet 
while  writing  it." — Works,  vol.  vii,  p.  305. 

This  was  written  when  he  was  eighty  years  old. 

But  it  seems  that  Mr.  Jefferson  had  never  read  the 
pamphlet,  Common  Sense,  as  the  following  gross  error 
in  regard  to  it  will  show.  Speaking  of  Mr.  Paine,  he 
says :  "  Indeed,  his  Common  Sense  was  for  awhile  be- 
lieved to  have  been  written  by  Dr.  Franklin,  and  pub- 
lished under  the  borrowed  name  of  Paine,  who  had 
come  over  with  him  from  England." — Works,  vol.  vii., 
p.  198. 

In  the  above  sentence  there  are  two  historic  errors. 
First,  Common  Sense  was  not  published  under  the  name 
of  Paine ;  and,  second,  Mr.  Paine  did  not  come  over 
with  Franklin  from  England.  He  preceded  Franklin 
six  months. 


232  DECLARATION  OF 

That  Mr.  Paine  did  not  attach  his  name  to  the  pam- 
phlet, Common  Sense,  there  is  abundance  of  evidence 
to  prove.  The  author  of  a  pamphlet,  subscribed  Ration- 
alis,  in  answer  to  Common  Sense,  says :  "  I  know  not 
the  author,  nor  am  I  anxious  to  learn  his  name  or  char- 
acter, for  the  book,  and  not  the  writer  of  it,  is  to  be  the 
subject  of  my  animadversions." 

But  we  have  Mr.  Paine's  own  testimony,  in  the  sec- 
ond edition  of  Common  Sense,  direct  to  the  point.  In 
a  postscript  to' the  Introduction,  he  says:  "Who  the 
author  of  this  production  is,  is  wholly  unnecessary  to 
the  public,  as  the  object  for  attention  is  the  doctrine,  not 
the  man.  Yet  it  may  not  be  unnecessary  to  say  that 
he  is  unconnected  with  any  party,  and  under  no  sort  of 
influence,  public  or  private,  but  the  influence  of  reason 
and  principle." 

An  examination  of  all  the  earliest  editions  which  can 
be  seen  in  the  Congressional  Library  at  Washington 
will  satisfy  any  one  on  this  subject. 

If  Mr.  Jefferson  had  read  Common  Sense  before  the 
writing  of  the  Declaration,  he  would  never  have  erred 
so  in  regard  to  this  fact.  This  goes  to  show  he  had  not 
even  read  it,  much  less  studied  it.  How,  then,  was  the 
exact  order  followed,  in  writing  the  Declaration,  which 
Mr.  Paine  laid  down  in  Common  Sense? 

My  first  proposition,  then,  I  have  proven,  namely: 
that  Thomas  Paine  wrote  a  work  fof  the  sole  pur|>oseof 
bringing  about  a  separation  and  making  a  Declaration 
of  Independence.  I  have  proven,  also,  that  he  therein 
submitted  the  subject-matter  in  the  order  in  which  it 
was  afterwards  put.  This  much  on  the  positive  side. 
On  the  negative  side,  I  have  shown  that  Mr.  Jefferson 


i:N'dependence.  233 

did  none  of  these  things,  fur  it  was  produced  from  "  the 
fullness  of  his  own  mind,  without  consulting  one  single 
book." 

But  if  Mr.  Bancroft  be  a  truthful  historian,  there  is 
already  great  doubt  thrown  on  Jefferson's  authorship 
of  it,  and  it  would  have  been  better  to  have  made  Jef- 
ferson a  close  student  and  thorough  reader  for  this 
special  purpose.  This  is  the  view,  in  fact,  taken  of  the 
question  of  authorship  in  the  New  American  Cyclopedia 
(article  Thomas  Jefferson),  and  I  will  give  an  extract 
therefrom,  to  show  how  historians  differ.  Speaking  of 
the  Declaration,  the  Cyclopedia  says :  "  Two  questions 
have,  however,  arisen  as  to  its  originality :  the  first,  a 
general  one  upon  the  substance  of  the  document;  the 
second,  in  regard  to  its  phraseology  in  connection  with 
the  alleged  Mecklenburg  declaration  of  May,  1775. 
It  is  more  than  probable  that  Jefferson  made  use  of  some 
of  the  ideas  expressed  in  newspapers  at  the  time,  and 
that  his  study  of  the  great  English  writers  upon  consti- 
tutional freedom  was  of  service  to  him.  But  an  impartial 
criticism  will  not  base  upon  this  fact  a  charge  of  want 
of  originality.  It  should  rather  be  regarded  as  the  pe- 
culiar merit  of  the  writer  that  he  thus  collected  and  em- 
bodied the  conclusions  upon  government  of  the  leading 
thinkers  of  the  age  in  Europe  and  America,  rejecting 
what  was  false,  and  combining  his  material  into  a  pro- 
duction of  so  much  eloquence  and  dignity.'^ 

This  does  not  sound  much  like  Bancroft.  The  two 
historians  have  placed  Mr.  Jefferson  in  a  sad  dilemma. 
The  one,  to  make  him  an  original  in  the  production  of 
the  Declaration,  says  he  did  not  consult  one  single  book, 
but  produced  it  from  the  fullness  of  his  own  mind. 


234  DECLABATION  OF 

The  other,  to  defend  him  from  the  charge  of  want  of 
originality,  says  he  made  use  of  the  newspapers,  col- 
lected and  embodied,  etc.  But  the  single  fact  which  I 
have  brought  from  the  conclusion  of  Common  Sense 
destroys  the  first  hypothesis,  and  the  last  hypothesis,  in 
being  contradictory  in  itself  destroys  itself.  How  the 
reader  will  fathom  this  labyrinth  of  contradictions,  and 
reconcile  this  conflict  of  historic  opinion,  is  a  question 
which  does  not  trouble  me,  and  I  pass  on  to  something 
more  important. 

STYLE. 

The  style  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence  is  in 
every  particular  the  style  of  Mr.  Paine  and  Junius; 
and  it  is  in  no  particular  the  style  of  Thomas  Jeffer- 
son.    This  I  now  proceed  to  prove. 

That  equality  in  the  members  of  the  periods,  which 
gives  evenness  and  smoothness,  and  the  alliteration 
which  gives  harmony  in  the  sound,  and  which  together 
render  the  writings  of  Mr.  Paine  so  stately  and  met- 
rical, are  qualities  so  prominent  that  no  one  can  mistake 
the  style.  And  what  renders  the  argument  in  this  re- 
gard so  strong,  is  the  entire  absence  of  these  qualities 
in  Mr.  Jefferson^s  writings.  In  fact,  if  Mr.  Jefferson 
drafted  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  he  never  be- 
fore nor  since  wrote  any  thing  like  it,  in  the  same  style, 
order,  or  spirit;  or  produced  any  thing  which  evinced 
genius,  or  the  hand  of  a  master  in  literature.  What  I 
have  already  said  on  style,  in  the  former  part  of  this 
work,  will  render  this  readily  understood  by  the  rei\der; 
but  I  will  now  make  a  few  comparisons,  and  first  with 
Junius,  and  then  Paine  and  Jefferson. 


INDEPENDENCE.  235 

Junius  wrote  two  declarations,  or  rather  pieces, 
after  the  very  same  style  and  manner,  namely,  the  first 
and  the  thirty-fifth  Letters.  They  can  be  thrown  into 
the  same  synoptical  form  in  which  I  have  put  the  Dec- 
laration. But  to  show  the  rythm,  and  alliteration,  and 
peculiar  style,  I  give  the  fiDllowing : 

'^When  in  the  course  of  human  events  it  becomes 
necessary  for  one  people  to  dissolve  the  political  bonds 
which  have  connected  them  with  another,  and  to  as- 
sume among  the  powers  of  the  earth  the  separate  and 
equal  station  to  which  the  laws  of  nature  and  of  nature's 
God  entitle  them,  a  decent  respect  for  the  opinions  of 
mankind  requires  that  they  should  declare  the  causes 
which  impel  them  to  the  separation." — Declaration. 

^^  When  the  complaints  of  a  brave  and  powerful  peo- 
ple are  observed  to  increase  in  proportion  to  the  wrongs 
they  have  suffered ;  when,  instead  of  sinking  into  sub- 
mission, they  are  roused  to  resistance,  the  time  will  soon 
arrive  at  which  every  inferior  consideration  must  yield 
to  the  security  of  the  sovereign  and  to  the  general  safety 
of  the  state.  There  is  a  moment  of  difficulty  and  dan- 
ger at  which  flattery  and  falsehood  can  no  longer  de- 
ceive, and  simplicity  itself  can  no  longer  be  misled." — 
Junius. 

"When  the  tumult  of  war  shall  cease,  and  the  tem- 
pest of  present  passions  be  succeeded  by  calm  reflection ; 
or  when  those  who,  surviving  its  fury,  shall  inherit 
from  you  a  legacy  of  debts  and  misfortunes;  when  the 
yearly  revenue  shall  scarcely  be  able  to  discharge  the 
interest  of  the  one,  and  no  possible  remedy  be  left  for 
the  other,  Ideas  far  different  from  the  present  will  arise 
and  embitter  the  remembrance  of  former  follies." 

The  above  three  extracts  are  from  the  Declaration, 
Junius,  and  Crisis,  vlli.  There  is  in  them  the  same 
stately  measure  or  tread;  the  same  harmony  of  sounds; 


236  DECLARATION  OF 

the  same  gravity  of  sentiment;  the  same  clearness  of  dic- 
tion ;  the  same  boldness  of  utterance ;  the  same  beauty 
and  vivacity;  in  short,  the  same  spirit  and  the  same 
hand. 

Now  an  extract  from  Jefferson  will  be  in  place,  and 
I  give  it  from  one  of  his  most  impassioned  pieces,  the 
*'  Summary  View.'^  I  do  this  for  two  reasons :  first,  be- 
cause it  is  the  only  piece,  up  to  the  writing  of  the  Dec- 
laration, which  he  ever  produced  worthy  of  note;  and 
second,  because  it  is  his  best.  I  give  also  the  best  of 
this  piece,  the  exordium : 

^'Resolvedj  That  it  be  an  instruction  to  the  said  dep- 
uties, when  assembled  in  General  Congress,  with  the 
deputies  from  the  other  states  of  British  America,  to 
propose  to  the  said  Congress  that  an  humble  and  duti- 
ful address  be  j)resented  to  his  Majesty,  begging  leave 
to  lay  before  him,  as  Chief  Magistrate  of  the  British 
empire,  the  united  complaints  of  his  Majesty's  subjects 
in  America;  complaints  wliich  are  excited  by  many  un- 
warrantable encroachments  and  usurpations,  attempted 
to  be  made  by  the  legishiture  of  one  part  of  the  empire 
u]M)n  the  riglits  whicli  God  and  the  laws  have  given 
equally  and  independently  to  all.  To  re|)resent  to  his 
Majesty  that  these,  his  states,  have  often  individually 
made  humble  application  to  his  imperial  Throne  to  ob- 
tain through  its  intervention  some  redress  of  tlieir  in- 
jured rights,  to  none  of  which  was  ever  even  an  answer 
condescended.  Humbly  to  hope  that  this,  their  joint 
address,  jKMined  in  the  language  of  truth,  and  divested 
of  those  expressions  of  servility  which  would  j)ersuade 
liis  Majesty  that  we  are  asking  favors,  and  not  rights, 
shall  obtain  from  his  Majesty  a  respectful  acceptance; 
and  this  his  Majesty  will  think  we  have  reason  to  ex- 
pect, when  he  reflects  tiiat  he  is  no  more  than  the  chief 
ofilicer  of  the  people,  appointed  by  the  laws,  and  circum- 
scribed with  definite  powers  to  assist  in  working  the 


INDEPENDENCE.  237 

great  machine  of  government,  erected  for  their  use,  and 
consequently  subject  to  their  superintendence,  and  in 
order  that  these  our  rights,  as  well  as  the  invasions  of 
them,  may  be  laid  more  fully  before  his  Majesty,  to 
take  a  view  of  them  from  the  origin  and  first  settle- 
ment of  these  countries.'^ 

It  will  be  observed  in  the  above  extract  from  Mr. 
Jeiferson,  that  there  is  no  proportion  between  the  mem- 
bers of  the  sentences.  We  have  them  of  all  lengths, 
interlarded  with  phrases,  and  thrown  into  a  confused 
mass.  Hence,  there  is  no  harmony.  Mr.  Paine's  pe- 
riods are  almost  faultless  in  this  regard;  the  members 
of  the  periods  follow  each  other  like  the  waves  of  the 
ocean,  which  gives  evenness  of  "tread^'  and  majesty  of 
expression.  While  the  style  of  Mr.  Jeiferson  is  abso- 
lutely devoid  of  all  harmony,  for  the  members  of  the 
periods  move  on  like  the  rumbling  of  a  government 
wagon  over  a  rough  and  stony  road. 

This  peculiarity  of  style  is  one  of  mental  constitu- 
tion. It  is  an  effect  of  nature  which  education  can 
never  remedy.  No  art  can  reach  it,  for  no  mental 
training  can  annul  a  law  of  nature.  It  may  be  said 
of  the  writer  in  this  regard  as  of  the  poet :  '*  He  is 
born,  not  made."  It  is  herein  nature  made  these  two 
men  entirely  unlike.  Paine  was  a  poet;  Jefferson  was 
not.  The  former  had  the  most  lively  imagination;  the 
latter  had  none  at  all.  It  is  this  quality  of  the  mind — 
imagination — which  adorns  language  with  the  figure. 

In  the  proper  use  of  the  figure  Mr.  Paine  can  not  be 
excelled.  Mr.  Jefferson  makes  but  infrequent  use  of 
figures  of  speech,  and  when  he  goes  out  of  the  ruts  of 
custom,  he  almost  always  fails  in  his  efforts.  Two  or 
three  examples  will  suffice.    In  vol.  i,  p.  58,  he  says:  "I 


238  DECLARATION  OF 

never  heard  either  of  them  speak  ten  minutes  at  a  time, 
nor  to  any  but  the  main  point  which  was  to  decide  the 
question.  They  laid  their  shoulders  to  the  great  points, 
knowing  that  the  little  ones  would  follow  of  them- 
selves." In  this  men  are  arguing  the  points  of  a  ques- 
tion. But  Mr.  Jefferson  says  they  ^*  laid  their  shoulders  " 
to  them,  instead  of  their  tongues.  In  vol.  i,  p.  358,  he 
says :  "  The  Emperor,  to  satisfy  this  tinsel  pa&sion, 
plants  a  dagger  in  the  heart  of  every  Dutchman,  which 
no  time  will  extract."  Perhaps  these  planted  daggers 
will  take  root.  He  speaks  also  about  "  confabs "  and 
"swallowing  opinions." 

Let  us  look  now,  for  a  moment,  at  the  grand  requi- 
sites of  style.  Precision,  Unity ,  and  Strength. 

Of  the  first,  I  would  say,  I  have  never  yet  seen  an 
ambiguous  sentence  in  Paine's  works.  Mr.  Jefferson's 
style  is  confused,  labored,  and  prolix.  There  is  no 
paragraph  he  ever  wrote,  especially  in  the  first  half  of 
his  life,  but  will  bear  me  out  in  the  assertion,  that  he 
uses  a  great  many  words  to  express  a  few  ideas.  The 
above  quotation  I  cite  on  this  point.  It  could  all  have 
been  put  into  one-fourth  of  the  space,  and  thus  have  l)een 
rendered  clear  and  distinct.  His  style,  however,  grew 
better  as  he  grew  older.  He  is  diffuse,  which  at  onoe 
destroys  Unity  of  expression.  He  puts  subject  after 
subject  into  one  ])eriod,  often  into  one  sentence.  The 
consequence  is,  there  is  no  order  in  his  style,  and  his 
ideas  tumble  over  each  other  in  the  greatest  confusion ; 
and  the  consequence  of  this  is,  there  is  no  Strength  to 
his  style. 

That  the  reader  may  see  all  these  faults,  I  will 


INDEPENDENCE.  239 

make  a   brief  analysis   of  the    Introduction    to    the 
"Summary  View,"  quoted  above: 

FIKST   PERIOD. 

1.  Instruction,  to  deputies. 

2.  When  assembled  in  Congress. 

3.  With  other  deputies. 

4.  To  propose  to  Congress. 

5.  To  present  an  address  to  his  Majesty. 

6.  Begging  leave  to  lay  before  him  complaints. 

7.  Complaints  excited. 

8.  By  encroachments  and  usurpations. 

9.  By  the  legislature  of  a  part  of  the  empire. 

10.  On  the  rights  which  God  and  the  laws  have  given 

11.  Equally  to  all. 

This  is  the  •  first  sentence.  In  it  he  has  put  the 
Introduction,  the  Bill  of  Rights,  the  Indictment,  a 
proposition  to  Congress  to  go  a  begging  before  his 
Majesty,  and  several  other  particular?  But  let  us 
continue  with  the  next  sentence : 

SECOND  PERIOD. 

12.  To  represent  to  his  Majesty. 

13.  That  his  states. 

14.  Humble  application. 

15.  To  Imperial  Throne. 

16.  To  get  redress  of  injured  rights. 

17.  No  answer. 

Here  there  is  no  relation  between  the  beginning  of 
the  sentence  and  the  conclusion. 


240  DECLARATION  OF 

THIRD   PERIOD. 

18.  Humbly  to  hope. 

19.  By  joint  address. 

a.  Penned  in  truth. 

h.  Divested  of  terms  of  servility. 

20.  Would  persuade  his  Majesty. 

21.  That  we  ask  no  favors. 

22.  But  rights. 

23.  Shall  obtain  a  respectful  acceptance. 

24.  His  Majesty  will  think. 

25.  We  have  reason  to  expect. 

26.  When  he  reflects. 

a.  That  he  is  only  the  chief  officer. 

h.  Appointed  by  law. 

c.  Circumscribed  with  powers. 

d.  To  assist  in  working  the  great  machine  of 

government. 

e.  Erected  for  their  use. 

/.  Are  therefore  subject  to  their  superintend- 
ence. 

27.  And  that  these  our  rights. 

28.  As  well  as  invasions. 

29.  May  be  laid  before  his  Majesty. 

a.  To  take  a  view  of  them. 

b.  From  their  origin. 

0.  And  first  settlement  of  these  countries. 

It  is  only  necessary  to  remark  on  the  above,  that 
thirty  or  forty  subjects  can  hardly  be  handled  success- 
fully in  three  periods.  How  different  is  this  from  the 
Declaration,  or,  in  fact,  from  any  j)roduction  of  Mr. 
Paine's. 


INDEPENDENCE.  241 

In  the  three  great  requisites  of  style,  Precision, 
Unity,  and  Strength^  where  Mr.  Paine  is  so  perfect,  we 
see  great  defects  in  Jefferson  ;  and  in  the  fourth.  Har- 
mony, a  complete  failure. 

If  we  now  take  the  "  Summary  View,"  and  submit 
it  to  the  same  critical  analysis  as  I  have  the  Declara- 
tion of  Independence,  we  will  find  the  same  defects  in 
it,  as  a  whole,  that  we  find  in  the  first  paragraph, 
which  I  have  just  analyzed.  There  is  a  complete  mix- 
ture of  all  subjects.  But  this  I  leave  to  the  reader, 
should  he  question  the  truth  of  my  assertion. 

If  we  now  turn  to  the  synopsis  of  the  Declaration, 
we  will  find  an  exhibition  of  the  most  perfect  order. 
The  Introduction  is  short,  to  the  point,  and  complete. 
The  Bill  of  Rights  contains  the  first  principles.  These 
apply  to  mankind  universally.  It  then  proceeds  as  a 
specialty.  The  Indictment  is  divided  into  three  grand 
divisions.  Usurpation,  Abdication,  and  War,  and  the 
separate  counts  are  stated,  clearly  containing  but  one 
subject.  Nowhere  do  we  find  a  mixing  up  of  differ- 
ent subjects.  We  do  not  find  a  count  of  war  under 
the  head  of  usurpation,  nor  one  of  usurpation  under 
the  head  of  war. 

There  is  also  seen  the  passion  for  alliteration 
throughout  the  whole  instrument,  and  especially  in  the 
following  passages :  "  Fostered  and  fixed  in  principles 
of  freedom."  Paragraph  22  is  filled  with  examples.  • 
But  in  paragraph  15  it  seems  he  uses  the  power  of  the 
mind  to  aid  him  in  itemizing  counts.  He  takes  t  for 
the  letter  under  which  he  marshals  this  army  of 
charges  :  ''  Troops,"  "trial,"  "  trade,"  "  taxes,"  "  trial," 


242  DECLARATION  OF 

[No.  2,]  "transportation,"  "tried."  Here  are  seven 
words  comprising  as  many  charges  following  in  suc- 
cession. He  follows  it  with  others,  but  never  uses  the 
t  again.  This  shows  a  passion  for  order  and  allitera- 
tion. I  presume  there  is  no  other  document  in  the 
world  with  these  peculiarities  so  marked,  and  I  pre- 
sume there  is  no  writer  in  the  world  who  ever  exhib- 
ited to  such  a  remarkable  degree  these  peculiarities  of 
style,  as  did  Thomas  Paine.  [See  on  this  subject  Ju- 
nius Unmasked,  p.  107.];  Now,  these  peculiarities  are 
almost  entirely  wanting  in  Thomas  Jefferson,  and 
without  them  it  is  absolutely  impossible  for  him  to  be 
the  author  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence. 

I  wish  now  to  call  attention  to  the  word  "  hath."  It 
is  found  but  once  in  the  Declaration,  and  is  in  j)aragraph 
2,  in  the  following  connection:  "And  accordingly  all 
experience  hath  shown."  It  is  put  in  here  for  the  sake 
of  harmony  and  force  in  sound,  for  if  we  substitute 
the  word  has,  there  will  be  a  halting  at  shown,  and  a 
disagreeable  hissing  sound.  At  the  time  this  was  writ- 
ten Mr.  Paine  frequently  used  the  word,  and  it  may 
have  slipped  in  unnoticed,  on  account  of  sound,  or  he 
may  have  put  it  in  so  that  the  critic  could  track  him.  I 
have  never  seen  the  word  in  any  of  Jefferson^s  writ- 
ings. 

SPECIAL  CHARACTERISTICS. 

I  have  heretofore  shown  that  Mr.  Paine  had  the 
Declaration  of  Independoncc  in  view  in  the  production 
of  Common  Sense,  and  that  he  sketched  tlioi*ein  the 
outlines  in  the  same  order  in  which  they  afterward 
appeared.     I  have  shown  its  architecture  and  plan,  and 


INDEPENDENCE.  243 

also  its  style,  to  be  that  of  Mr.  Paine's,  and  not  Mr. 
Jefferson's.  I  have  shown  this  somewhat  in  detail,  but 
not  more  than  the  subject  demanded.  Herein  I  have 
given  the  grand  outlines  and  general  features,  but  I 
shall  now  review  the  whole,  to  point  out  its  special 
characteristics,  that,  in  the  multitude  of  small  things  all 
tending  one  way,  it  will  be  made  conclusive  to  the  mind 
of  the  reader  that  it  is  Mr.  Paine's,  and  not  Jefferson's. 
In  this  I  shall  be  compelled,  some  times,  to  refer  to 
propositions  already  proven  in  the  first  part  of  this 
work,  to  shorten  the  argument,  not  wishing  to  go  over 
the  same  ground  twice.  In  the  demonstration  of  a  theo- 
rem in  geometry,  what  has  })een  proven  is  made  to  aid 
what  shall  come  after.  I  shall  proceed  with  the  same 
method,  and  not  be  guilty  of  taking  any  thing  which 
Mr.  Paine  may  have  written  afterward,  to  prove  some- 
thing which  has  gone  before.  But  mental  characteris- 
tics may  be  taken  wherever  we  can  find  them.  I  am 
confined  to  Common  Sense,  and  shall  use  also  Junius  as 
aiding,  but  never  to  entirely  prove  a  point.  In  my  ref- 
erences to  Common  Sense,  I  shall  be  compelled  to  refer 
to  the  page.  I  use  the  political  works  of  Mr.  Paine  as 
published  by  J.  P.  Mendum,  Boston,  as  they  are  most 
generally  known  and  read  in  this  country.  With  these 
explanations,  the  reader  can  not  go  wrong. 

I  now  take  up  the  original  Declaration,  beginning 
with  the  Introduction;  and,  as  I  have  numbered  its 
paragraphs,  I  shall  use  the  figures  to  denote  them,  pro- 
ceeding in  their  numerical  order: 

Paragraph  1.  "Political  bonds."     The  same  figure 
is  found  on  page  64,  Common  Sense. 
16 


244  DECLARATION  OF 

'*  To  assume  among  the  powers  of  the  earth  the  sepa- 
rate and  equal  station  to  which  the  laws  of  nature  and 
of  nature's  God  entitle  them/^  Here  the  crowning 
thought  is  that  God,  through  his  natural  laws,  and  by 
natural  proofs,  designed  a  separation.  Thus  Mr.  Paine, 
in  Common  Sense,  page  37,  says:  ^*  The  distance  at 
which  the  Almighty  hath  placed  England  and  America 
is  a  strong  and  natural  proof  that  the  authority  of  the 
one  over  tlie  other  was  never  the  design  of  Heaven." 
.  .  .  ''  Every  thing  that  is  right  or  natural  pleads 
for  separation.'^ 

Note  also  above  the  i)hrase,  ^*  separate  and  equal  sta- 
tion.'' The  writer  of  the  Declaration  considered  Eng- 
land and  America  equal,  and  thus  Mr.  Paine  says, 
above :  "  It  is  proof  that  the  authority  of  the  one  over 
the  other  was  never  the  design  of  Heaven." 

^*A  decent  respect  for  the  opinions  of  mankind  re- 
quires that  they  should  declare  the  causes  which  imj)el 
them  to  the  separation."  Note  hereunder  the  phrase, 
"  decent  resj)cct."  Thus,  in  his  introduction  to  his  first 
Letter,  which  was  an  indictment  and  declaration  of 
principles  also,  Junius  says:  *'  Let  us  enter  into  it  [the 
inquiry]  with  candor  and  decency.  Respect  is  due  to 
the  station  of  ministers,  and,  if  a  resolution  must  at  last 
be  taken,  there  is  none  so  likely  to  be  supported  with 
firmness  as  that  which  has  been  adopted  with  modera- 
tion.-" 

The  above  are  j>crfect  parallels  in  idea,  and  in  the  ex- 
j)ression  of  the  ])rominent  thought,  *UJeccnt  respect.^* 
But  the  thought  is  expanded  from  the  narrow  eoniincs 
of  the  British  nation  to  the  whole  world,  and  if  Mr. 
Paine  wrote  both,  as  they  strongly  indicate,  to  make 


INDEPENDEJ^CE.  245 

the  conclusion  good  we  must  find  this  change  or  mental 
growth  in  Mr.  Paine  to  coincide  therewith.  Here  it  is: 
^^In  this  extensive  quarter  of  the  globe,  we  forget  the 
narrow  limits  of  three  hundred  and  sixty  miles  (the  ex^ 
tent  of  England),  and  carry  our  friendship  on  a  larger 
scale.  We  claim  brotherhood  with  every  European 
Christian,  and  triumph  in  the  generosity  of  the  senti- 
ment. 

"  It  is  pleasant  to  observe  by  what  regular  gradations 
we  surmount  local  prejudices  as  we  enlarge  our  acquaint- 
ance with  the  world.  A  man  born  in  any  town  in 
England,^'  etc.  I  wish  the  reader  to  read  the  whole  of 
the  paragraph  I  have  .begun.  See  Common  Sense, 
pages  35  and  36.  See  also  Crisis,  viii,  near  its  close; 
a  noble  passage  on  the  same  subject.  Mr.  Paine  fre- 
quently takes  the  pains  to  tell  us  how  he  outgrew  his 
local  prejudices,  and  how  he  at  last  considered  the 
"  world  his  country.^^  He  undertook,  also,  for  America 
what  he  calls  ^'the  business  of  a  worldj^ — Common 
Sense,  page  63. 

Paragraph  2.  ^^We  hold  these  truths  to  be  self- 
evident  :  That  all  men  are  created  equal ;  that  they  are 
endowed  by  their  Creator  with  inherent  and  inalienable 
rights.'^  Compare  from  Common  Sense,  pages  24,  25, 
and  28,  as  follows:  "Mankind  being  originally  equals 
in  the  order  of  creation,  the  equality  could  not  be  de- 
stroyed by  some  subsequent  circumstance.'^ 
"  The  equal  rights  of  nature.^'  .  .  .  "  For  all  men 
being  originally  equals/'  etc.  So,  also,  Junius  says: 
"In  the  rights  of  freedom  we  are  all  equal.''  .  .  . 
"  The  first  original  rights  of  the  people,"  etc.  To  show 
that  he  believes  these  rights  to  be  inalienable,  he  says : 


246  DECLARATION  OF 

^^  The  equality  can  not  be  destroyed  by  some  subse- 
quent circumstance/^ 

*'  Life,  liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness/'  Jun- 
ius uses  the  terms,  "Life,  liberty,  and  fortune." — Let. 
66.  And  Mr.  Paine  frequently,  "Life,  liberty,  and 
property .''  But  these  terms  were  in  quite  common  use 
with  many  writers. 

"  To  secure  these  rights,  governments  are  instituted 
among  men."  What  is  said  on  government  in  this 
paragraph  is  paraphrased  or  condensed  from  page  21, 
Common  Sense.  It  is  a  concise  repetition  of  Mr. 
Paine's  pet  theme  and  political  principles,  first  given  to 
the  world  in  Junius,  and  then  elaborated  in  Common 
Sense. 

^^  Prudence  indeed  will  dictate."  This  word  j>i^- 
dence  is  ever  flowing  from  the  pen  of  Mr.  Paine.  See 
an  example  on  page  21,  Common  Sense.  It  is  quite 
common  in  Junius.  The  same  may  be  said,  also,  of 
the  word  experience. 

"And  accordingly  all  experience  hath  shown  that 
mankind  arc  more  disposed  to  suffer  while  evils  are  suf- 
ferable,  than  to  right  themselves  by  abolishing  the 
forms  to  which  they  are  accustomed."  Compare  Com- 
mon Sense,  page  17,  as  follows :  "As  a  long  and  violent 
abuse  of  power  is  generally  the  means  of  calling  the 
right  of  it  in  question,  and  in  matters,  too,  which 
might  never  have  been  thought  of,  had  not  the  sufferers 
been  aggravated  to  the  inquiry,"  etc. 

"  Forms.^*  That  is,  the  "  forms  of  the  constitution." 
See  Junius,  Let.  44,  where  he  says:  "I  should  be  con- 
tented to  renounce  the  forms  of  the  Constitution  once 
more,  if  there  were  no  other  way  to  obtain  substantial 


INDEPENDENCE.  247 

justice  for  the  people/'     And  here  the  Declaration  '.s 
renouncing  the  forms. 

."  But  when  a  long  train  of  abuses  and  usurpations, 
all  having  in  direct  object  the  establishment  of  an  ab- 
solute tyranny  over  these  States/'  Paine  says  on 
tyranny :  "  Ye  that  oppose  independence  now,  ye 
know  not  what  ye  do,  ye  are  opening  a  door  to  eternal 
tyranny,  by  keeping  vacant  the  seat  of  government." 

.  .  .  "  Ye  that  dare  oppose  not  only  the  tyranny ^ 
but  the  tyrant,  stand  forth."     Common  Sense,  p.  47. 

^'  To  prove  this,  let  facts  be  submitted  to  a  candid 
world,  for  the  U^uth  of  which  we  pledge  a  faith,  yet  un-^ 
sullied  by  falsehoodj^  The  above  sentence  is  very  pe- 
culiar, and  I  will  show  wherein.  The  last  member 
of  the  sentence  which  I  have  italicised  was  stricken 
out  of  the  original  draft  by  Congress.  The  peculiarity 
in  it  is  that  ^^  the  truth  of  a  fact  ^^  is  affirmed,  and  its 
falsehood  implied.  Now  a  fact  is  always  true.  There 
can  be  no  false  facts.  What  is  here  meant,  is,  that  we 
pledge  a  faith  yet  unsullied  by  falsehood,  that  the  state- 
ments are  true.  Not  that  the  facts  are  true,  but  that  they 
are  facts.  It  is  the  passion  (if  I  may  so  express  it)  for 
conciseness,  to  speak  of  facts  being  true  or  false.  Now 
this  is  a  peculiarity  of  Junius.  In  Let.  3  he  says : 
"  I  am  sorry  to  tell  you.  Sir  William,  that  in  this 
article  your  first  fact  is  false."  It  is  thus  Mr. 
Paine  frequently  sacrifices  both  grammar  and  strict 
definition  to  conciseness ;  but  never  to  obscure  the  sense. 
An  example  from  the  publicly  acknowledged  pen  of 
Mr.  Paine  ought  to  be  here  produced;  I,  therefore, 
give  one  from  his  letter  to  the  Abbe  Raynal,  which  is 
as  follows :  *^  His  facts  are  coldly  and  carelessly  stated. 


248  DECLARATION  OF 

They  neither  inform  the  reader,  nor  interest  him. 
Many  of  tliem  are  erroneous,  and  most  of  them  are  de- 
i^ctive  and  obscure."  Here  "erroneous  facts,"  "false 
facts,"  and  "  ftiets  for  the  truth  of  which  we  pledge  a 
faith  unsullied  by  falsehood,"  are  evidence  of  the  same 
head  and  hand.  It  is  thus  an  author  puts  some  pecu- 
liar feature  of  his  soul  on  paper  unwittingly;  and  it 
lies  there  a  fossil,  till  the  critic,  following  the  lines  of 
nature,  gathers  it  up  to  classify,  arrange,  and  combine 
with  others,  and  then  to  put  on  canvas,  or  in  marble 
bust.  It  may  be  well  to  remind  the  reader  that  the 
above  peculiarity  I  can  nowhere  find  in  Jefferson^s 
Writings. 

I  now  call  attention  to  the  sentence :  "  But  when  a 
long  train  of  abuses  and  usurj)ations  [begun  at  a  dis- 
tinguished period,  and  pursuing  invariably  the  same 
object]  evinces  ii  design  to  reduce  them  under  absolute 
despotism,  it  is  their  right,  it  is  their  duty,  to  throw 
oflP  such  government,  and  to  provide  new  guards  for 
their  future  secwrity." 

I  have  placed  in  brackets  what  has  been  interpolated 
by  Jefferson.  I  conclude  this  from  the  following  reasons: 

1.  It  breaks  the  measiite. 

2.  It  destroys  th^e  hai^mony  of  the  j^eriml,  and  th« 
sentence  is  complete  and  harmonious  without  it. 

3.  "  Begun  at  a  distinguished  period,"  is  indefinite. 

4.  It  refers  to  time,  and  is  mixed  up  with  other 
subject  matter,  and  is  therefore  in  the  wrong  place. 

5.  It  is  tautology,  for  two  sentences  further  on  it  is 
all  expressed  in  its  proper  place,  in  referring  to  the  his- 
tory of  the  king. 

In  all  of  these  particulars  it  is  not  like  Mr.  Paine, 


INDEPENDENCE.  249 

for  he  is  never  guilty  of  such  a  breach  of  rlietoric. 
But  in  all  of  the  above  particulars  it  is  just  like  Mr. 
Jefferson. 

The  above  two  paragraphs  comprise  the  Introduc- 
tion and  the  Bill  of  Rights,  and  are  the  foundation  of 
the  Declaration.  It  is  a  basis  fit  and  substantial,  be- 
cause one  of  universal  principles,  so  that  whatever 
special  right  may  be  enunciated,  it  will  rest  firmly  on 
this  fouudation ;  or  whatever  special  denunciation  of 
wrongs,  it  will  have  its  authority  therein. 

I  now  pass  to  consider  the  indictment  under  its  three 
divisions — Usurpation,  Abdication,  and  War. 

If  the  reader  will  now  turn  back  to  page  223,  he 
will  find  from  paragraphs  3  to  15,  inclusive,  the 
whole  charge  of  usurpation  included  therein.  But,  sep- 
arately, we  find  paragraph  3  to  be  a  charge  of  the 
abuse  of  the  king's  negative;  and  he  concludes  in  para- 
graph 15  with  the  climax,  '^suspendiug  our  own  legis- 
latures, aud  declariug  themselves  [the  king  and  parlia- 
ment] invested  witli  power  to  legislate  for  us  in  all 
cases  whatsoever."  Now,  if  the  reader  will  turn  to 
page  41,  Common  Sense,  which  is  page  213  of  this 
book,  he  will  find  Mr.  Paine  beginning  the  first  of  his 
"several  reasons"  as  follows: 

"1.  The  powers  of  governing  still  remaining  in  the 
hands  of  the  king,  he  will  have  a  negative  over  tlie 
whole  of  this  continent." 

It  will  be  observed,  in  a  general  view,  that  the 
reasons  given  by  Mr.  Paine  cover  the  whole  thirteen 
paragraphs;  and  it  wilLbe  observed  specially  that  he 
begins  the  reasons  the  same  as  he  does  the  indictment — 
namely,  with  the  king's  negative.     Mr.  Paine  was  vio- 


250  DECLARATION  OF 

lently  opposod  to  the  king^s  negative,  and  all  through 
life  he  never  fails  to  attack  it,  when  the  opportunity  of- 
fered itself.  This  would  weigh  most  heavily  on  his 
mind,  and  be  most  naturally  uttered  first.  On  page  59 
of  Common  Sense  will  also  be  found  reasons  for  inde- 
pendence, which  come  within  this  part  of  the  indict- 
ment. But  pages  41,  42,  43  of  Common  Sense  cover 
nearly,  or  quite  all  of  it.  But  they  are  stated  generally 
for  the  sake  of  argument — not  specially  for  the  siike  of 
indictment. 

Paragraph  16.  *^  He  has  abdicated  government  here, 
withdrawing  his  governors,  and  declaring  us  out  of  his 
allegiance  and  protection.'^  Compare  with  this  the  fol- 
lowing, to  be  found  on  page  61  of  Common  Sense: 
'^  The  present  .state  of  America  is  truly  alarming  to 
every  man  who  is  eapable  of  reflection.  Without  law, 
without  government,  without  any  other  mode  of  power 
than  what  is  founded  on  and  granted  by  courtesy. 
Held  together  by  an  unexampled  occurrence  of  senti- 
ment, which  is,  nevertheless,  subject  to  change,  and 
which  every  secret  enemy  is  endeavoring  to  dissolve. 
Our  present  condition  is  legislation  without  law.  wis- 
dom without  a  ])lan,  a  constitution  without  a  name." 

I  now  take  up  the  third  part  of  the  indictment — War, 

Paragraph  17.  "  He  has  plundered  our  seas,  ravaged 
our  coasts,  burnt  our  towns,  and  destroyed  the  lives  of 
our  people." 

Paragraph  18.  "He  is  at  this  time  transjK)rting 
large  armies  of  foreign  merwnaries  to  complete  the 
works  of  death,  desolation,  and  tyranny,  already  begiui, 
with  circumstances  of  cruelty  and  perfidy  unworthy  the 
head  of  a  civilized  nation." 


INDEPENDENCE.  251 

On  the  above  two  counts,  winch  charge  war  and  in- 
vasion, I  submit  from  Common  Sense,  page  62,  as  fol- 
lows :  ^^It  is  the  violence  which  is  done  and  threatened  to 
our  persons,  the  destruction  of  our  property  by  an  armed 
force,  the  invasion  of  our  country  by  fire  and  sword y 
which  conscientiously  qualifies  the  use  of  arms ;  and  the 
instant  in  which  such  mode  of  defense  became  neces- 
sary, all  subjection  to  Britain  ought  to  have  ceased,  and 
the  independence  of  America  should  have  been  consid- 
ered as  dating  its  era  from,  and  published  by  the  first 
musket  that  was  fired  against  her/' 

Under  the  above,  also,  may  be  classed  paragraph  19. 

Paragraph  20.  ^'  He  has  endeavored  to  bring  on  the 
inhabitants  the  merciless  Indian  savages,  whose  known 
rule  of  warfare  is  an  undistinguished  destruction  of  all 
ages,  sexes,  and  conditions  of  existence."  Compare 
Common  Sense,  page  47,  as  follows :  "  There  are  thou- 
sands and  tens  of  thousands  who  would  think  it  glori- 
ous to  expel  from  the  continent  that  barbarous  and 
hellish  power  which  hath  stirred  up  the  Indians  and 
negroes  to  destroy  us." 

Paragraph  21.  '^  He  has  excited  treasonable  insurrec- 
tion,^^ etc.  Compare  Common  Sense,  page  61,  as  fol- 
lows :  ^'  The  tories  dared  not  have  assembled  offensively, 
had  they  known  that  their  lives,  by  that  act,  were  for- 
feited to  the  laws  of  the  State.  A  line  of  distinction 
should  be  drawn  between  English  soldiers  taken  in 
battle  and  inhabitants  of  America  taken  in  arms:  the 
first  are  prisoners,  but  the  latter  traitors — the  one  for- 
feits his  liberty,  the  other  his  head." 

The  above  paragraph  and  the  following  one,  it  will 
be  remembered,  were  stricken  out  by  Congress. 


25S  DECLA  RA  TION  OF 

I  now  come  to  the  closing  paragrapli  of  this  part  of 
the  indictment,  and,  as  it  is  the  most  important  of  all, 
tlie  author  kept  it  for  a  climax,  and  he  throws  his 
whole  sonl  into  it.     I  will  transcribe  it  here: 

Paragraph  22.  '*  He  has  waged  cruel  war  against  hu- 
man nature  itself,  violating  its  most  sacred  rights  of 
life  and  liberty,  in  the  persons  of  a  distant  people,  who 
never  offended  him,  captivating  and  carrying  them  into 
slavery  in  another  hemisphere,  or  to  incur  miserable 
death  in  their  transportation  thither.  This  piratical 
warfare,  the  opprobrium  of  INFIDEL  powers,  is  the 
warfare  of  the  CHRISTIAN  king  of  Great  Britain. 
Determined  to  keep  open  a  market  where  MEN  should 
be  bought  {<nd  sold,  he  has  prostituted  his  negative  for 
suppressing  every  legislative  attempt  to  prohibit  or  to 
restrain  this  execrable  commerce;  and,  that  this  assem- 
blage of  horrors  might  want  nfo  fact  of  distinguished 
die,  he  is  now  exciting  those  very  people  to  rise  in  arms 
among  us,  and  to  purchase  that  liberty  of  whicli  he  has 
deprived  tlTcm;  thus  |irtying  off  former  crimes,  com- 
mitted against  the  LIBERTIP!S  of  one  people,  with 
crimes  which  he  urges  them  to  commit  against  the 
LIVES  of  another/' 

The  capital  words  in  the  above  are  his  own.  I^et  us 
begin  with  the  last  sentetice,  and  go  backward.  The 
substance  of  th6  last  sentence  rs,  that  by  exciting  the 
negroes  to  rise  on  the  people  of  this  continent,  the 
king  was  guilty  of  a  doubh*  crime,  both  against  the  lih- 
erties  of  the  negroes  and  the  lives  of  the  American 
j)eople.  Compare  Common  Sense,  page  47,  as  follows: 
"  He  hath  stirred  up  the  Indians  and  nef/roes  to  ihsiroy 
us;  the  crueltij  hath  a  double  guilt — it  is  dealing  brutally 


INDEPENDENCE.  253 

by  US  and  treacherously  by  themJ^  Tin's  is  the  same 
complex  idea,  well  reasoned  out,  and  expressed  almost 
in  the  same  language — certainly  in  the  same  style.  But 
Jefferson  "  never  consulted  a  single  book/^  so  original  was 
the  Declaration  to  his  own  mind  and  habits  of*  thought! 

Let  us  now  take  the  sentence:  '^  This  piratical 
warfare,  the  opprobrium  of  INFIDEL  powers,  is  the 
warfare  of  the  CHRISTIAN  king  of  Great  Britain.^' 
The  antithesis  above  between  infidel  and  christian,  fjdls 
upon  the  mind  with  such  stunning  weight;  with  such 
boldness  of  religious  sentiment;  with  such  emphasis  in 
expression,  and  with  such  withering  sarcasm  toward 
the  king,  that  it  becomes  an  epitome  of  Mr.  Paine  hira^ 
self,  and  a  concise  record  of  his  whole  life,  up  to  that 
period.  The  reader  can  not  fail  here  to  see  the  pen  of 
Junius,  and  to  recall  the  great  power  of  antithesis  in 
all  his  Letters.  This  peculiarity  of  style  is  absolutely 
wanting  in  Jefferson. 

The  first  sentence  in  the  paragraph,  is  in  every 
phrase  so  like  Mr.  Paine,  the  reader  must  think  it 
superfluous  to  comment  upon  it.  The  expressions, 
"cruel  war,"  *' against  human  nature,"  "sacred  rights," 
"life  and  liberty,"  "in  the  persons  of,"  and  especially 
^^prostituted/'  are  all  to  be  found  in  Common  Sense  and 
Junius.  For  the  phrase  "in  the  persons  of,"  see  it 
repeated  three  times  on  page  22  of  Common  Sense. 

Thus  ends  the  Indictment.  It  is  Article  I,  of  Mr. 
Paine\s  Manifesto,  heretofore  pointed  out.  I  now  pro- 
ceed with  Article  II  of  the  Manifesto,  which  he  states  to 
be  "the  peaceful  methods  which  we  have  ineffectually 
used  for  redress."  See  Common  Sense,  p.  56.  It  is  as 
follows : 


264  DECLARATION  OF 

Paragraph  23.  "  In  every  stage  of  these  oppressions 
we  have  petitioned  in  the  most  humble  terms ;  our 
repeated  petitions  have  been  answered  by  repeated 
injuiies."  Compare  Common  Sense,  pp.  39-40,  as 
foHows:  "Every  quiet  method  for  peace  hath  been 
ineffectual.  Our  prayers  hath  been  rejected  with  dis- 
dain, and  only  tended  to  convince  us  that  nothing 
flatters  vanity  or  confirms  obstinacy  in  kings  more 
than  in  repeated  petitioning,^^ 

Paragraph  24.  "  A  prince  whose  character  is  thus 
marked  by  every  act  which  may  define  a  tyrant,  is  unfit 
to  be  the  ruler  of  a  people  who  mean  to  be  free. 
Future  ages  will  scarcely  believe,  that  the  hardiness  of 
one  man,  adventured  within  the  short  compass  of  twelve 
years  only,  to  lay  a  foundation  so  broad  and  so  undis- 
guised for  tyranny  over  a  people  fostered  and  fixed  in 
princii)les  of  freedom." 

The  first  sentence  pronounces  the  king  a  tyrant,  and 
is  so  often  repeated  heretofore  by  Mr.  Paine,  it  is  useless 
to  cite  any  thing  in  proof.  The  second  sentence  was 
stricken  out  of  the  Declaration  by  Congress,  and  con- 
tains new  matter  which  must  be  attended  to.     And 

First,  "  Future  ages  will  scarcely  helievc  that  J'  This 
phrase  is  peculiar  to  Mr.  Paine,  for  his  mind  was 
continually  dwelling  on  the  future.  So  Junius  says: 
"  Posterity  will  scarce  believe  ^a<."^— Let.  48.  And  Mr. 
Paine  says:  ^'Mankind  will  scarcely  believe  that** — 
■Rights  of  Man,  p.  94. 

I  parallel  this  phrase  not  so  much  to  show  a  ver^l 
construction  as  to  show  a  mental  characteristic  wh"^ch 
must  express  itself  in  the  same  language. 

Second,  "  That  the  hawliuess  of  one  man  adventurpd." 


INDEPENDENCE.  255 

Compare  with  this  from  Common  Sense,  page  41 :  "No 
man  was  a  warmer  wisher  for  reconciliation  than  myself, 
before  the  fatal  nineteenth  of  April,  1775;  but  the 
moment  the  event  of  that  day  was  made  known,  I 
rejected  the  hardened,  sullen-tempered  Pharaoh  of 
England  forever,^'  etc.  How  different  is  this  language 
in  the  Declaration,  from  that  used  by  Mr.  Jefferson  in 
the  "  Summary  View,"  when  speaking  of  the  king. 
Jefferson  used  the  word  majesty,  as  though  he  was 
speaking  to  a  god ;  and  seems  to  delight  in  the  repetiton 
of  it.     See  p.  236. 

Third,  "  Within  the  short  compass  of  twelve  years 
only."  The  Declaration  was  dated  July  4th,  1776. 
Twelve  years  would  take  it  back  to  1764.  This  was 
the  year  the  stamp  act  passed,  and  made  an  era  in 
colonial  troubles.  Now,  if  Mr.  Paine  had  been  speak- 
ing of  the  troubles  of  the  English  people,  he  would 
have  used  the  same  expression,  with  the  exception  of 
adding  a  year ;  for,  as  before  stated  in  the  first  part  of 
this  work,  Mr.  Paine  dated  the  miseries,  oppressions, 
and  invasions  on  the  rights  of  the  English  people  from 
the  close  of  the  Seven  Years'  War,  or  the  beginning  of 
1763.  And  the  time  was  estimated  in  round  numbers 
as  follows : 

Junius  says,  in  the  beginning  of  1769:  "Outraged 
and  oppressed  as  we  are,  this  nation  will  not  bear  after 
a  six  years' jpeace,^  etc. ;  and,  also,  in  the  beginning  of 
1770 :  "At  the  end  of  seven  years  we  are  loaded,"  etc. 
Mr.  Paine,  at  the  close  of  the  year  1778,  says  to  the 
English  people :  "  A  period  of  sixteen  years  of  mis- 
conduct and  misfortune,"  etc.  These  round  numbers 
all  refer  back  to  the  beginning  of  1763,  and  the  ex- 


256  DECLAEATION  OF 

pressioii  in  the  Declaration,  "within  the  short  compass 
of  twelve  years  only,^^  is  not,  as  it  appears,  inconsistent 
with  this  pccuh'arity,  for  the  English  era  with  him  was 
1763,  and  the  American  1764.  Nowhere  do  I  find 
this  mental  characteristic  in  Jefferson.  This  is  strong 
proof — it  goes  beyond  proof,  it  is  demonstration.  Mr. 
Jefferson,  nor  any  man  living,  could  steal  this  fact;  it 
is  one  of  mental  constitution,  stamped  there  and  ])oint- 
ing  with  fingers  of  truth  both  backward  and  forward 
to  Thomas  Paine,  and  at  right  angles  to  the  character 
of  Thomas  Jefferson. 

The  figure  "compass"  is  often  found  in  Mr.  Paine's 
writings,  as  "compass  a  plan,"  and  the  like.  But  I 
call  attention  to  the  perfect  similarity  in  style  between 
the  Declaration  and  every  passage  from  Common 
Sense. 

Paragraph  25.  "Nor  have  we  been  wanting  in 
attention  to  our  British  brethren.  We  have  warned 
them  from  time  to  time,"  etc.  It  is  the  peculiarity  of 
Mr.  Paine  to  hold  up  a  warning  to  the  sense.  See 
on  this  point,  page  163  of  this  work. 

"  ^Ye  have  reminded  them  of  the  circumstances  of 
our  emigration  and  settlement  here."  Compare  Com- 
mon Sense,  p.  35,  as  follows:  "This  new  world  hath 
been  the  asylum  for  the  persecuted  lovers  of  civil  and 
religious  liberty  from  every  part  of  Europe.  Hither 
liave  they  fled,  not  from  the  tender  embraces  of  the 
mother,  but  from  the  cruelty  of  the  monster,  and  it  is 
so  far  true  of  England,  that  the  same  ty ninny  which 
drove  the  first  enjigrauts  from  home  |>ursues  their  de- 
scendants still."  Thus,  also,  says  the  Dwlaration  (and 
note  the  style):   "These  were  affected  at  the  e^cpense 


INDEPENDENCE.  257 

of  our  own  blood  and  treasure,  unassisted  by  the  wealth 
or  strength  of  Great  Britain;  that  in  constituting  in- 
deed our  several  forms  of  government  we  had  adopted 
one  common  king.^' 

I  call  attention  to  the  phrases,  ^^  common  king/* 
"  common  blood,'^  and  ^'  common  kindred,^*  in  tJie  same 
paragraph.  Mr.  Paine  was  never  guilty  of  calling 
England  the  ^^ parent"  or  '^  mother"  country,  but  the 
"common"  country.  (See  Common  Sense,  p.  36.) 
Junius  in  Let.  1  says:  "A  series  of  inconsistent 
measures  has  alienated  the  -Colonies  from  their  duty  as 
subjects,  and  from  their  natural  affection  to  their  com- 
mon country.-^  Jefferson  uses  "parent"  and  "mother" 
country,  both  before  and  after  the  writing  of  the  Dec- 
laration. 

In  connection  with  the  above  sentence  from  Junius, 
I  subjoin  the  same  sentiment  in  regard  to  natural  affec- 
tion from  the  Declaration  a  few  sentences  further  on, 
as  follows :  "  These  facts  have  given  the  last  stab  to 
agonizing  affection,  and  manly  spirit  bids  us  to  renounce 
forever  these  unfeeling  brethren.  We  must  endeavor 
to  forget  our  former  love  for  them,  and  hold  them  as 
we  hold  the  rest  of  mankind,  enemies  in  war,  in  peace 
friends."  Compare  with  this.  Common  Sense,  p. 
47,  as  follows :  "  To  talk  of  friendship  with  those  in 
whom  our  reason  forbids  us  to  have  faith,  and  our 
affections  wounded  through  a  thousand  pores  instruct 
us  to  detest,  is  madness  and  folly.  Every  day  wears 
out  the  little  remains  of  kindred  between  us  and  them." 
In  regard  to  the  phrase  ^^ renounce  forever**  above,  as 
quoted  from  the  Declaration,  compare  Common  Sense, 
p.  38,  {^s  follows :  "  That  seat  of  wretchedness  [speak- 


258  DECLARATION  OF 

ing  of  Boston]  will  teach  us  wisdom  and  instruct  us 
to  forever  renounce  a  power  in  whom  we  can  have  no 
trust/'  See'  also  Common  Sense,  p.  37,  as  follows: 
"And  our  duty  to  mankind  at  large,  as  well  as  to  our- 
selves, instructs  us  to  renounce  the  alliance." 

The  expression  "  forever  *'  will  not  be  mistaken,  for 
it  runs  through  Junius'  and  all  of  Mr.  Paine's  writ- 
ings as  a  common  expression. 

The  figure  "  to  stab  "  is  one  which  Mr.  Paine  adopted 
in  Junius  and  carried  through  his  whole  life.  Thus  he 
talks  about  *'  stabbing  the  Constitution,''  and  "  to  stab 
the  character  of  the  nation."  The  former  is  found  in 
Junius,  the  latter  in  his  Letter  to  the  Abbe  Raynal. 

The  italicised  phrases  in  the  following  expression, 
*^  These  facts  have  given  the  last  stab  to  agonizing  affec- 
tion, and  manly  spirit  bids  us  to  renounce  forever  "  etc., 
are  so  very  like  Mr.  Paine,  and  so  entirely  unlike  Mr. 
Jefferson,  that  the  cursory  reader,  with  the  commonest 
understanding,  would  not  fail  to  pronounce  in  favor 
of  the  former  being  the  author. 

I  now  call  attention  to  a  striking  peculiarity  in  re- 
gard to  the  mention  of  the  Scotch.  It  is  found  in  the 
same  paragraph,  and  is  as  follows:  '*At  this  very  time, 
too,  they  [our  British  brethren]  are  permitting  their 
chief  magistrate  to  send  over  not  only  soldiers  of  our 
common  bloody  but  Scotch  and  foreign  mercenaries,  to  in- 
vade and  destroy  us."  The  word  m(»rcenaries  is  used 
once  before  in  the  Declaration. 

The  writer  of  the  Declaration  is  speaking  of  the 
"British  brethren,"  whom  he  designates  as  "of  our 
common  blood,"  but  excludes  the  Scotch  therefrom. 
Now,  wo  know  ^^r.  Paine  to  have  been  an  English- 


INDEPENDENCE.  259 

man,  and  that  in  Junius  he  often  inveighed  bitterly 
against  the  Scotch.  The  reader  will  remember  what  he 
said  of  Mr.  Wedderburn,  on  page  195  of  this  work. 
Mansfield  was  a  Scotchman,  and  this  fact  embitters  Ju- 
nius. He  speaks  of  the  Scotch  ''cunning/^  *' treach- 
ery," and  '-fawning  sycophancy,"  of  "the  character- 
istic prudence,  the  selfish  nationality,  the  indefatigable 
smile,  the  persevering  assiduity,  the  everlasting  profes- 
sion of  a  discreet  and  moderate  resentment."  It  is 
quite  evident  that  the  writer  of  the  Declaration  did  not 
consider  the  Scotch  as  included  in  the  term  '^  British 
brethren,"  whom  he  warned,  as  he  c.alled  them  '^  mer- 
cenaries;''  nor  as  having  the  like  origin,  nor  as  being 
of  the  same  race  as  the  term  "comriion  blood"  indi- 
cates. These  are  facts  which  speak  out  of  the  Declara- 
tion, and  as  such  Jefferson  could  not  have  written  them, 
for  two  reasons : 

1.  He  had  no  antipathy  to  the  Scotch,  but  rather  a 
liking.  This  is  seen  in  the  selection  of  his  teachers, 
both  by  his  parents  and  himself.  At  nine  years  of  age 
he  studies  Latin,  Greek,  and  French  under  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Douglas,  a  Scotchman,  living  with  the  minister  at 
the  same  time.  At  fourteen,  and  after  his  father's 
death,  he  goes  away  to  attend  the  school  of  Mr.  Murray, 
a  Scotchman;  and  when  he  goes  to  college  at  Williams- 
burg, being  then  a  young  man  grown,  he  becomes 
strono'lv  attached  to  one  Professor  Small,  a  Scotchman. 
In  short,  Jefferson  was  peculiarly  attached  to  the  Scotch, 
and  why? 

2.  Because  he  was  nearer  related  to  them  by  "  cam- 
mon  blood  "  than  to  the  English.  He  was  of  Welsh 
origin— a  perfect  Celt,  and  not  a  Briton.     Now,  the 

17 


260  DECLARATION  OF 

Cimbri  of  Wales  and  the  Gael  of  Scotland  are  of  the 
same  blood,  build,  habits,  and  instincts.  Jefferson,  on 
Scotch  soil,  woidd  have  been  taken,  from  personal  ap- 
pearance,  to  be  a  red-headed  Scotchman,  and  a  fine  spec- 
imen at  that.  From  ^^  common  bloocl,'^  then,  he  could 
not  consistently  have  written  it,  if  he  knew  any  thing 
about  his  origin,  or  comprehended  what  he  was  writing. 

But  there  is  an  argument  in  this  connection,  which 
goes  toward  the  whole  instrument,  showing  that  Mr. 
Jefferson  could  not  possibly  be  the  author  of  it.  In  a 
special  commentary  of  Mr.  Jefferson's  on  this  phrase, 
^*  Scotch  and  foreign  mercenaries/^  he  misquotes  the 
Declaration,  which  he  would  not  be  likely  to  do  if  he 
wrote  it.  In  volume  viii,  page  500,  of  his  works,  he 
says  :  "  When  the  Declaration  of  Independence  was  un- 
der the  consideration  of  Congress,  there  were  two  or 
three  unlucky  expressions  in  it,  which  gave  offense  to 
some  members.  The  words,  ^Scotch  and  other  foreign 
auxiliaries '  excited  the  ire  of  a  gentleman  or  two  of 
that  country."  In  the  phrase  ^'  Scotch  and  other  for- 
eign auxiliaries,"  Jefferson  is  trying  to  quote  the  words 
"  Scotch  and  foreign  mercenaries.'*  There  is  a  vast  dif- 
ference between  the  two  words  "auxiliaries"  and  "  mei*- 
cenaries."  But  the  former  expresses  the  real  s|)irit  of 
Jefferson,  the  latter  of  Paine.  Entirely  different  senti- 
ments produced  the  two  expressions.  The  style,  also, 
is  changed  from  Paine's  to  Jefferson\s,  by  j)utti!ig  in  the 
word  "other."  It  is  thus  changed  from  the  concise  to 
the  diffuse.  Mr.  Jefferson  says  this  expression  was 
"unlucky  ;"  and  it  still  proves  to  be,  near  the  close  of 
a  century. 

Now,  the  word  mercenaries,  which,  with  th^  author 


INDEPENDENCE.  261 

of  the  Declaration^  means  prostituted  hirelings,  is  used 
twice  in  the  instrument,  but  auxiliaries,  which  would 
mean  lionorable  allies,  is  not  used  once.  It  is  not 
strange  that  he  should  forget,  for  the  sentiment  is  for- 
eign to  his  own  character ;  and  I  had  written  my  argu- 
ment, and  given  my  reasons  above  why  Mr.  Jefferson 
could  not  possibly  be  the  author  of  that  sentiment,  a 
month  before  I  found  that  Jefferson  had  misquoted  the 
Declaration.  I  reason  from  first  principles,  which  rest 
on  established  facts,  the  silent  language  of  nature,  com- 
pared with  which  the  vain  babblings  of  men  amount 
to  nothing.  For  example,  John  Adams  says  that  he 
and  Mr.  Jefferson  met  as  a  sub-committee  to  draft  the 
Declaration;  that  he  urged  Jefferson  to  do  it;  that 
afterward  they  both  met,  and  conned  it  over,  and  he 
does  not  remember  of  making  or  suggesting  a  single  al- 
teration. This  Mr.  Jefferson  denies.  He  says  there 
was  710  sub-committee;  that  Adams  has  forgotten  about 
it;  that  he  [Jefferson]  drew  it,  and  turned  to  neither 
book  nor  pamphlet  while  writing  it,  and  that  Adams 
did  correct  it. — Jefferson^s  Works,  vol.  vii,  pages  304, 
305.  Here  are  two  men,  one  eighty  and  the  other 
eighty-eight,  on  whose  words  history  rests,  differing 
materially  about  historic  facts.  The  one  who  can  not 
quote  an  important  passage  correctly,  as  to  fact  or  lan- 
guage which  he  says  he  wrote  himself,  accuses  the  other 
of  forgetting  about  a  committee  which  never  existed. 
The  reader  must  judge. 

"  Be  it  so."  Let  us  find  the  feeling  which  produced 
this  expression.  It  is  peculiar  to  Junius.  See  Letters 
18,  34,  and  44,  where  the  sentence  is  used.  And  now 
let  me  remark,  that  the  reader  may  he  led  to  a  just  crit- 


262  DECLARATION  OF 

icisnij  and  not  ramble  after  vague  and  unmeaning  ex- 
jwessions,  the  spirit  of  tlie  writer  must  be  found,  the 
prominent  sentiment  of  the  heart  must  befell,  the  cause 
must  be  seen  which  shall  give  utterance  to  the  expres- 
sion, "Be  it  so."  How Jfcrifling  it  appears  to  the  cursory- 
reader!  But  let  me  arrest  your  attention.  Junius 
uses  the  expression  three  times,  and  every  time  in  conr 
neotion  with  the  sentiment  of  dignity.  So,  also,  in  the 
Declaration.  It  is  only  produced  in  him  by  a  feeling, 
and  the  peculiar  and  particular  feeling  of  dignity,  in 
antithesis  to  contempt,  littleness,  disrepute,  or  mean- 
ness. I  will  now  give  the  context.  In  Let.  18  he 
says:  "You  seem  to  think  the  channel  of  a  pamphlet 
more  respectable,  and  better  suited  to  the  dignity  of 
your  cause,  than  a  newspaper.     Be  it  so." 

In  Let.  34  he  says:  "We  are  told  by  the  highest 
judicial  authority  that  Mr.  Yaughan's  offer  to  purchase 
the  reversion  of  a  patent  place  in  Jamaica  amounts  to 
a  high  misdemeanor.  Be  it  so;  and  if  he  deserves  it, 
let  him  be  punished.  But  the  learned  judge  might 
have  had  a  fairer  opportunity  of  disj)laying  the  powers 
of  his  eloquence.  Having  delivered  himself  with  so 
much  energy  upon  the  criminal  nature  and  dangerous 
consequences  of  any  attempt  to  corrupt  a  man  in  your 
grace^s  station,  what  would  he  have  said  to  the  minis- 
ter himself,  to  that  very  privy  counselor,  to  that  first 
commissioner  of  the  treasury,  who  d(K\s  not  wait  for, 
but  impatiently  solicits  the  touch  of  corruption,  who 
employs  the  meanest  of  his  creatures  in  these  honor- 
able services,  and  forgetting  the  genius  and  fidelity  of 
the  secretary,  descends  to  apply  to  his  housebuilder  for 
assistance  ?  " 


INDEPENDENCE.  263 

In  Let.  44  he  says :  "  There  may  be  instances  of 
contempt  and  insult  to  the  House  of  Commons,  which 
do  not  fall,  within  my  own  exceptions,  yet,  in  regard  to 
the  dignity  of  the  house,  ought  not  to  pass  unpunished. 
Be  it  so.'' 

In  the  Declaration,  paragraph  25,  we  read:  "We 
might  have  been  a  free  and  a  great  people  together,  but 
a  communication  of  grandeur  and  freedom,  it  seems,  is 
below  their  dignity.     Be  it  so,  since  they  will  have  it. 

So  much  for  the  trifling  little  trinity  of  words  made 
up  of  six  letters,  when  traced  to  their  mental  origin. 
The  reader  will  see  an  aura  of  dignity  always  darting 
out  from  the  sentence  when  used  by  Mr.  Paine.  It 
might  never  have  this  connection  in  the  soul  of  any- 
other  man.  This  closes  paragraph  25,  and  I  proceed 
to  the  conclusion. 

Paragraph  26.  Here  the  nation  is  named.  "The 
United  States  of  America,^'  are  declared  "  free  and  in- 
dependent States.^'  ..."  And  for  the  support  of 
this  declaration  we  mutually  pledge  to  each  other  our 
lives,  our  fortunes,  and  our  sacred  honor.''  Compare 
Common  Sense,  conclusion,  as  follows :  "Wherefore,  in- 
stead of  gazing  at  each  other  with  suspicious  or  doubt- 
ful curiosity,  let  each  of  us  hold  out  to  his  neighbor  the 
hearty  hand  of  friendship,  and  unite  in  drawing  a  line 
which,  like  an  act  of  oblivion,  shall  bury  in  forgetful- 
ness  every  former  dissension.  Let  the  name  of  whig 
and  tory  be  extinct;  and  let  none  other  be  heard  among 
us  than  those  of  a  good  citizen,  an  oj^en  and  resolute 
friend,  and  a  virtuous  supporter  of  the  rights  of  man- 
kind, and  of  the  Free  and  Independent  States 
OF  America." 


264  DECLARATION  OF 

I  have  now  gone  through  with  the  Declaration,  both 
in  a  general  and  special  manner.  In  the  former  regard 
I  have  found  it  to  be  the  souPs  image  of  Mr.  Paine,  in 
style,  order,  and  construction,  and,  in  the  latter,  a  com- 
plete synopsis  of  Common  Sense.  I  have  fully  and  con- 
clusively shown  that  the  substance  of  every  paragraph  is 
found  in  Common  Sense,  with  much  of  the  language  the 
same,  and  also  that  many  special,  meutal  peculiarities, 
common  to  Mr.  Paine,  and  wanting  in  Mr.  Jefferson, 
are  found  there.  Now,  Mr.  Jefferson  never  before,  nor 
since,  ever  produced  any  thing  like  it  in  any  of  these 
particulars.  If  we  take  a  hasty  review,  we  \\W\  find 
that  in  as  many  particulars  as  the  Declaration  has,  in 
just  so  many  there  is  a  reproduction  of  Mr.  Paine.  In 
no  single  fact  does  the  Declaration  disagree  with  Mr. 
Paine.  It  does  with  Mr.  Jefferson  in  very  many.  I 
have  shown  also  that  it  would  be  impossible  for  Mr. 
Jefferson  to  steal  it,  for  he  would  have  to  steal  the  very 
soul  of  Mr.  Paine,  and  write  under  its  influence.  This 
is  above  proof,  it  is  demonstration. 

But  I  will  hold  the  reader  to  history.  It  is  a  fact, 
well  established,  that  he  did  not  consult  one  single  author 
thereon.  He  says  so  himself.  Mr.  Bancroft,  the  great 
American  historian,  says  so.  If  I  had  found  him  mis- 
taken in  this  statement,  I  would  have  shown  wherein. 
He  is  correct,  and  it  is  unnecessary  for  me  to  add  any 
thing  to  su|)p()rt  his  fame.  But  will  lie  change  his  con- 
clusions, and  will  he  re-write  his  own  history  to  suj)ix)rt 
the  statement  that  Mr.  Jellvrson  ])r()duced  it,  not  from 
"  the  fullness  of  his  own  niiinl,''  but  from  the  fullness  of 
Common  Sense?  I  would  not  cast  an  asj)ersion,  by  the 
remotest  insinuation,  upon  the  faithfulness  of  Mr.  Ban- 


INDEPENDENCE.  2G5 

croft  as  a  liistorian.  He  penned  the  truth  in  regai-tl  to 
a  historic  fact,  but  founded  a  conchision  thereon  not 
warranted  bv  the  fact.  This  will  prove  a  lesson  to  the 
historian,  and,  therefore,  I  will  further  remark,  that  a 
scientific  metlio(l  has  also  dawned  upon  history.  Vol- 
taire struck  the  principle  when  he  brought  history 
within  the  realm  of  natural  causes,  and  Mr.  Buckle 
began  to  develop  the  method  in  an  able  manner,  but 
his  life  was  too  short  to  complete  it.  That  he  has 
erred  in  some  particulars,  may  be  true,  but  he  has 
traveled  far  out  on  the  highways  of  nature,  and,  in 
the  main,  he  is  right.  In  this  age  the  historian 
has  no  business  to  write  unless  he  travels  the  same 
road.  In  fact,  he  would  not  be  a  historian,  unless  he 
did,  but  merely  tiie  chronicler  of  events.  There 
is  a  vast  distance  in  the  realm  of  mind  between  the 
high  station  of  a  historian,  and  the  low  office  of  a 
chronicler.  But,  with  this  remark  I  pass  on  with  my 
argument. 

Is  it  at  variance  with  nature  and  the  general  order 
of  things  that  Mr.  Jefferson  should  reproduce  Common 
Sense,  in  all  its  small  particulars,  as  well  as  grand 
outlines,  observing  the  same  order  in  its  construction, 
a  perfect  epitome  thereof,  without  studying  it.  But 
if  he  did  study  it,  and  thus  reproduce  it,  the  theft  won  hi 
be  too  monstrous,  and  there  is  not  in  human  nature  an 
impudence  so  audacious  as  to  do  such  a  thing  under  the 
very  eye  of  its  author.  It  would  have  been  a  literary 
piracy  too  disgraceful  for  human  nature  to  commit  or 
to  endure.  It  would  have  been  a  robbery  too  easy  of 
detection  by  Mr.  Paine,  and  there  could  not  be  found 
on  earth  a  man  so  devoid  of  shame,  or  of  all  personal 


26G  DECLARATION  OF 

honor,  or  of  self-respect  as  to  have  committed  it.  Now 
if  Jefferson  wrote  the  Declaration  of  In{le|)endence, 
never  was  man  more  disgraced  in  the  literary  world. 
But  on  the  other  hand,  as  chairman  of  a  committee  of 
five  to  whom  collectively  belong  tiie  duty  to  produce 
it  or  procure  it,  and  who  collectively  slrall  share  its 
honor,  for  him  as  such  chairman,  to  receive  from  the 
hand  of  Mr.  Paine,  as  a  gift  to  the  nation,  the  document 
which  the  country  needed,  there  would  be  no  dishonor 
connected  with  it.  It  was  nobody's  business  who  w^rote 
it.  Mr.  Paine  and  Jefferson  understood  it,  and  none 
but  themselves  could  be  wronged.  History  records 
that  Mr.  Paine  and  Jefferson  were  ever  after  bound 
heart  and  hand  together.  Jefferson  confided  in  the 
most  faithful  heart  of  the  world.  But  after  Mr.  Paine 
died,  it  was  wrong  for  Mr.  Jefferson  to  take  advantage 
of  the  silence  of  death  and  claim  the  document.  It  was 
the  wickedness  of  vanity  and  a  narrow  mind  that  would 
direct  to  be  carved  on  his  tombstone,  **  The  author  of 
the  Declaration  of  Independence.^^  For  his  own  name's 
sake,  it  ought  to  be  struck  out  with  some  friendly  chisel. 
It  is  as  ])ainful  for  me  to  write  this  as  it  would  be  to 
receive  the  news  of  the  death  of  a  dear  friend,  who  had 
died  with  some  curse  upon  his  character.  But  while 
we  look  with  compassion,  let  us  tell  the  truth. 

At  first,  Mr.  Jefferson  did  not  write  himself  down 
the  author  of  the  Declaration,  and  there  seems  to  be  a 
growth  in  this  like  all  other  tilings.  Here  are  the 
different  stages : 

1.  Notes  written  on  the  siK)t,  as  events  were  )>assing, 
for  the  truth  of  which  he  ])ledges  himself  to  Heaven 
and  earth.     He  writes  as  follows: 


INDEPENDENCE.  267 

^*It  appearing  in  the  course  of  these  debates  that  the 
colonies  of  New  York,  New  Jersey,  Pennsylvania, 
Delaware,  Maryland,  and  South  Carolina,  were  not  yet 
matured  for  falling  into  the  parent  stem,  but  that  they 
were  fast  advancing  to  that  state,  it  was  thought  most 
prudent  to  wait  awhile  for  them,  and  to  postpone  the 
final  decision  to  July  1st.  But  that  this  might  occasion 
as  little  delay  as  possible,  a  committee  was  appointed 
to  prepare  a  Declaration  of  Independence.  The  com- 
mittee were  John  Adams,  Dr.  Franklin,  Roger  Sherman, 
Robert  R.  Livingston,  and  myself.  This  was  reported 
to  the  House  on  Friday,  the  28th  of  June,  when  it  was 
read  and  ordered  to  lie  on  the  table.'^  Works,  vol.  i, 
page  118. 

There  is  no  acknowledgment  at  this  time.  This  is 
July,  1776.  Mr.  Paine  is  in  Philadelphia.  Had  Mr. 
Jefferson  been  the  author,  this  would  have  been  the 
time  for  him  to  have  recorded  it,  as  he  has  not  failed  to 
record  all  his  other  public  acts.  He  is  now  thirty-three 
years  old. 

2.  Eleven  years  afterward,  when  in  Paris,  he  writes 
to  the  editor  of  the  Journal  de  Paris  as  follows,  in 
regard  to  the  history  of  the  Declaration :  "  I  was  on 
the  spot  and  can  relate  to  you  this  transaction  with 
precision.'  On  the  7th  of  June,  1776,  the  delegates 
from  Virginia  moved,  in  obedience  to  instructions  from 
their  constituents,  that  Congress  shall  declare  the  thirteen 
united  colonies  to  be  independent  of  Great  Britain,  and 
a  confederation  should  be  formed  to  bind  them  together, 
and  measures  be  taken  to  procure  the  assistance  of 
foreign  powers.  The  House  ordered  a  punctual  attend- 
ance of  all  their  members  the  next  day  at  ten  o'clock, 


268  DECLARATION  OF 

and  then  resolved  themselves  into  a  committee  of  the 
whole  and  entered  on  the  discussion.  It  ai)peared  in  the 
course  of*  the  debate  that  seven  states,  viz.,  New 
Hampshire,  Massachusetts,  Rhode  Island,  Connecticut, 
Virginia,  North  Carolina,  and  Georgia,  were  decided 
for  a  separation;  but  that  six  others  still  hesitated, 
to-wit:  New  York,  New  Jersey,  Pennsylvania,  Dela- 
ware, Maryland,  and  South  Carolina.  Congress  desirous 
of  unanimity,  and  seeing  that  the  public  mind  was 
advancing  rapidly  to  it,  referred  the  further  discussion 
to  the  first  of  July,  a])pointing  in  the  meantime,  a 
committee  to  prepare  a  Declaration  of  Independence; 
a  second,  to  form  articles  for  the  confederation  of  the 
states;  and  a  third,  to  pre[)are  measures  for  obtaining 
foreign  aid.  On  the  28th  of  June,  the  Declaration  of 
Inde})endence  was  reported  to  the  House,  and  was  laid 
on  the  table.''— Vol.  ix,  pp.  310,  311. 

There  is  no  acknowledgment  that  he  was  the  author 
of  it  yet.  This  is  August,  1787.  Mr.  Paine  is  in 
Paris,  just  on  the  eve  of  starting  for  London.  Jeffer- 
son is  forty-four  years  old. 

3.  In  September,  1809,  in  answer  to  a  i)r(>j>osition  to 
publish  his  writings,  after  mentioning  many  of  them, 
he  says:  *' I  say  nothing  of  numerous  drafts  of  re- 
ports, resolutions,  declarations,  etc.,  drawn  as  a  member 
of  Congress,  or  of  the  legislature  of  Virginia,  such  as 
the  Declaration  of  rnd(»pendenee,  Report  on  the  Money 
Mint  of  the  United  States,  the  Act  of  Religious  Free- 
dom, etc.,  etc.  These  having  become  the  acts  of  public 
bodies,  there  can  be  no  personal  claim  to  them."  This 
is  nearly  three  months  after  the  death  of  Mr.  Paine. 


INDEPENDENCE.  269 

And  here  he  says  he  makes  no  personal  chiim  to  it.    He 
is  now  sixty-six  years  old. 

4.  In  May,  1819,  he  gives  the  same  account  as  first 
above  given.  Mr.  Paine  has  been  dead  abont  ten  years. 
He  makes  no  acknowledgment  yet  that  he  was  the  au- 
thor of  it,  but  in  the  sauie  account  pledges  himself  to 
Heaven  and  earth  for  the  truth  of  the  statement. — 
Works,  vol.  vii,  page  123.  He  is  now  seventy-six  years 
old. 

5.  In  January,  1821,  he  indirectly  acknowledges  him- 
self to  be  the  author,  but  witli  a  great  deal  of  ambigu- 
ity. He  takes  the  same  account  as  given  first  and  third 
above,  but  interpolates  into  it  a  clause,  which  I  have 
placed  in  brackets  in  the  passage  which  I  give,  as  fol- 
lows: "It  appearing,  in  the  course  of  these  debates, 
that  the  colonies  of  New  York,  New  Jersey,  Pennsyl- 
vania, Delaware,  Maryland,  and  South  Carolina  were 
not  yet  matured  for  falling  into  the  parent  stem,  but 
that  they  were  fast  advancing  to  that  state,  it  was 
thought  most  prudent  to  wait  awhile  for  them,  and  to 
postpone  the  final  decision  to  July  1st;  but,  that  this 
might  occasion  as  little  delay  as  possible,  a  committee 
was  appointed  to  prepare  a  Declaration  of  Independence. 
The  committee  were  John  Adams,  Dr.  Franklin,  Roger 
Sherman,  Robert  R.  Livingston,  and  myself  [Com- 
mittees were  also  appointed  at  the  same  time  to  prepare 
a  plan  of  confederation  for  the  colonies,  and  to  state  the 
terms  proper  to  be  proposed  for  foreign  alliance.  The 
committee  for  drawing  the  Declaration  of  Independeuce 
desired  me  to  do  it.  It  was  accordingly  done,  and,  be- 
ing approved  by  them,  I]  reported  [it]  to  the  House  on 
Friday,  the  28th  of  June,  when  it  was  read,  and  ordered 


270  DECLARATION  OF 

to  lie  on  the  table." — Works,  vol.  i,  pages  17  and  18. 
This  is  the  first  insinuation.  I  say  insinuation,  for  the 
sentence,  "  It  was  accordingly  done,  and  I  reported  it," 
is  not  frank  and  outspoken,  as  it  ought  to  be,  if  he 
meant  to  say  he  drafted  it.  Mr.  Paine  has  been  dead 
ahiiost  twelve  years,  but  Mr.  Jefferson  has  dropped  the 
pledge  to  Heaven  and  earth  for  the  truth  of  it,  which 
he  lias  heretofore  been  careful  to  put  in.  He  is  now 
seventy-eight  years  old. 

6.  In  August,  1823,  he  now  conies  forward,  and  says: 
"  The  committee  of  five  met ;  no  such  thing  as  a  sub- 
committee was  proposed,  but  they  unanimously  pressed 
on  myself  alone  to  undertake  the  draft.  I  consented. 
I  drew  it." — Works,  vol.  vii,  page  304.  John  Adams 
had  said  there  was  a  sub-committee  of  two,  viz.,  Jeffer- 
son and  himself,  appointed  by  the  other  three.  But 
Jefferson  says  there  was  not — "that  John  Adams  had 
forgotten  about  it."  Query  :  Can  a  person  forget  about 
something  which  never  was?  To  this  statement  there 
is  no  "pledge  to  Heaven  and  earth."  He  is  eighty 
years  old. 

7.  In  the  year  1825  he  says  once  that  he  wrote  it, 
and  once  that  he  drafted  it;  but  no  "  pledge  to  Heaven 
and  earth  "  as  before. 

Now,  he  never  acknowledged  that  he  was  the  author 
of  it  in  any  of  his  works  before  the  death  of  Mr.  Paine. 
He  gave  several  full  accounts  of  the  whole  transaction, 
and  calls  on  Heaven  and  earth  to  witness  the  truth  of 
his  statements.  About  the  time  Mr.  Paine  dies  he  says 
he  can  make  no  personal  claim  to  it.  Ten  years  after 
Mr.  Paine's  death,  he  very  aml)iguously  claims  it,  as  if 
liis  pen  refused  to  write  it,  and  drops  his  oath.     But 


INDEPENDENCE.  271 

twelve  years  after  Mr.  Paine^s  death,  and  he  now  in 
his  eightieth  year,  he  first  says  he  drew  it.  Was  he  too 
modest  to  affirm  it  till  he  had  got, into  his  dotage?  The 
reader  must  answer.  It  is  with  painful  feelings  I  re- 
cord the  above  facts.  "  But  they  are  too'  true,  and  the 
more  is  the  pity.^^     But  to  proceed. 

Mr.  Jefferson  could  not  have  followed  so  closely  Com- 
mon Sense  in  the  production  of  the  Declaration  of  In- 
dependence, if  he  had  studied  it  for  a  Avhole  year  with 
this  special  purpose  in  view.  For,  the  style  he  could 
not  have  imitated;  the  figures  of  speech  he  could  not 
have  adopted;  the  impassioned  eloquence  would  have 
stuck  to  the  dry  leaves ;  the  exact  order  would  have 
been  missed;  the  fine  shades  of  sentiment  would  have 
been  blotted  out;  the  complex  ideas  he  would  have 
failed  to  grasp;  its  architectural  plan  he  could  not  have 
idealized ;  and  its  construction  would  never  have  arisen 
from  the  chaos  of  scattered  materials  which  he  would 
have  gleaned.  And,  above  all,  the  personal  character 
of  Mr.  Paine  would  have  been  left  out.  He  would 
have  failed  in  every  one  of  these  things.  And  why? 
Want  of  mental  similarity  thereto.  This,  and  nothing 
else. 

I  will  sum  up  his  mentality  as  I  find  it  in  his  writ- 
ings. I  have  given  you  Mr.  Paine^s  already.  In  this 
I  shall  be  brief,  speaking  only  of  those  powers  which 
would  be  incompatible  with,  or  necessary  to,  the  pro- 
duction of  the  Declaration. 

Mr.  Jefferson  was  a  zealous  partisan.  Mr.  Paine  was 
a  consummate  statesman.  Here  was  the  great  difference 
between  the  two  men.  Those  qualities  of  the  mind 
which  produce  the  former  are  very  unlike  those  which 


272  DECLARATION  OF 

produce  tlie  latter.  The  former  mind  must  be  narrow 
and  selfish,  the  latter  broad  and  generous.  This  will 
take  in  the  whole  world,  that  but  a  small  portion  of  it. 
The  partisan  has  an  understanding  subject  to  the  vice 
and  disci[)line  of  cunning;  the  statesman  has  an  under- 
standing subject  to  the  noblest  and  most  generous  af- 
fections. It  was  this  which  made  Mr.  Jefferson  such 
a  grand  success  as  a  party  leader,  and  that,  too,  which 
perhaps  saved  the  nation  from  passing  into  the  hands 
of  the  monarchists.  Without  these  consummate  powers 
of  the  partisan,  it  would  have  been  impossible  for  Mr. 
Jefferson  to  have  taken  command  of  the  people,  to  have 
organized  his  party,  to  have  marshaled  his  forces,  and 
with  his  army  of  followers  to  have  put  royalty  under 
his  heel.  How  unlike  Washington  and  ,Tohn  Adams, 
who  preceded  him.  Hamilton,  who  would  toast  a  presi- 
dent of  America  and  give  three  cheers  for  George  the 
Third  of  England,  ruled  Washington  and  governed  the 
nation.  John  Adams,  who  was  so  beguiled  with  roy- 
alty and  the  British  constitution,  could  not  heartily 
sympathize  with  the  people;  the  dupe  of  his  own  j>as- 
sions,  he  was  unfit  to  be  the  ruler  of  a  free  people.  But 
Jefferson,  while  secretary  under  AVashington,  began  to 
form  his  i)arty  and  draw  his  party  lines.  Through 
Freneau  he  drove  Washington  to  cry  out:  "  By  Goil, 
I  had  rather  be  in  my  grave  than  in  my  present  situa- 
tion ! "  And,  afterward,  the  ])arty  he  was  marshaling 
made  John  Adams,  then  president  of  the  United  States, 
desert  his  post  for  seven  months,  at  the  most  trying 
crisis  of  this  government.  But  the  cold,  unfeeling  par- 
tisanship of  the  great  democrat  saved  the  nation. 

The  other  crowning  difference  between  the  two  men 


INDEPENDENCE.  273 

is,  Mr.  Paine  had  extraordinary  genius,  Mr.  Jefferson 
had  not;  and  by  genius  I  mean  a  lively  constructive 
and  comprehensive  mind,  one  that  can  generalize  facts 
and  deduce  principles  therefrom,  one  that  can  idealize 
and  build  in  the  imagination  what  it  would  put  into 
material  sha[)e  or  on  paper.  If  this  comparison  be 
true  (and  the  reader  is  at  lil)erty  to  'bring  facts  to  con- 
tradict it),  then  Mr.  Jefferson  could  not  produce  the 
Declaration  for  wmt  of  capacity. 

The  Declaration  is  the  work  of  a  master.  It  is  the 
work  of  one  with  gr^at  experienee  in  the  art  of  com- 
position, one  who  produced  the  whole  in  the  ideal 
before  he  touched  pen  to  paper,  and  one  who  followed 
plan  and  specifications  with  unerring  precision.  It  is 
a  work  of  the  most  finished  rhetoric,  and  produced 
Avith  such  skill  as  to  defy  adverse  criticism.  It  shows 
vast  labor  and  time  bestowed  upon  its  execution.  In 
its  mechanism  I  have  never  seen  its  equal  in  all  my 
reading  and  study.  It  is  the  most  masterly  work  of 
genius  I  ever  saw  in  composition.  It  stands  alone  in 
the  world  of  letters.  There  is  nothing  its  equal  which 
has  come  down  to  us  from  the  ages,  and  I  know  of  no 
one  save  Thomas  Paine  capable  of  producing  it.  That 
he  was  a  master  in  the  art  of  composition,  no  one  can 
dispute,  and  he  frequently  takes  pains  to  give  the  prin- 
ciples which  reveal  his  success;  here  is  one  of  them, 
to  be  found  in  his  Letter  to  the  Abbe  Raynal :  "To  fit 
the  powers  of  thinking  and  the  turn  of  language  to 
the  subject,  so  as  to  bring  out  a  clear  conclusion  that 
shall  hit  the  point  in  question,  and  nothing  else,  is  the 
true  criterion  of  writing,"  See  a  fine  passage  on  this 
point   in   the    introduction   to   the  same   letter.     Now 


274  DECLARATION  OF 

Jefferson  had  not  the  genius  to  produce  the  Declara- 
tion. 

If  we  look  also  at  several  passages  in  the  Declara- 
tion we  can  only  feel  their  full  force  after  knowing  the 
previous  career  of  Mr.  Paine  as  Junius  in  England. 
Take  for  example  the  two  paragraphs,  24  and  25,  the 
one  of  tlie  king  and  the  other  of  the  "  British  brethren.*' 
We  see  in  the  one  the  proud  disdain  and  haughty  con- 
tempt for  the  tyrant;  in  the  other  that  tender  sympa- 
thy for  the  English  people,  with  a  sly  thrust  at  the 
Scotch,  and  then  the  wounded  affection  which  comes 
from  betrayal* of  friendship — ^' the  last  stab  to  agonizing 
affection.'*  And  then  regathering  himself  from  the  afflic- 
tion of  a  broken  heart,  he  exclaims,  "Manly  spirit  bids 
lis  to  renounce  forever  these  unfeeling  brethren."'  But 
wo,  tliis  can  not  be  done,  and  in  the  next  breath  he 
says,  "  we  must  endeavor  to  forget  our  former  love  for 
them  ;"  and  then  comes  the  wail  of  anguish  in  the  loss 
of  his  native  country,  "  We  might  have  been  a  great 
and  a  free  people  together,  but  a  communication  of 
grandeur  and  of  freedom  it  seems  is  below  their  dignity. 
Be  it  so.**  He  now  bends  beneath  the  hand  of  fate 
and  cries  out,  *'  I  acquiesce  in  our  eternal  separation,*' 
but  persist  in  denouncing  it.  Tins  is  the  very  picture 
of  Mr.  Paine's  own  heart.  It  is  a  pitch  of  enthusiasm 
and  anguish  which  Mr.  Jefferson  had  neither  circum- 
stance in  his  life  nor  capacity  in  his  soul  to  work  him- 
self up  to.  It  is  neither  art  nor  contrivance,  it  is  the 
recorded  boating  of  his  own  heart,  the  sequel  to  his 
previous  life. 

Take  again  the  passage  on  human  slavery.  "He 
has  waged  cruel  war  against  human  nature  itself.**   It  is 


INDEPENDENCE.  276 

well  known  that  Mr.  Paine,  before  he  wrote  Common 
Sense,  attracted  the  eyes  of  the  world  to  him  by  de- 
nouncing human  slavery  in  the  most  impassioned  elo- 
quence. This  piece  he  termed  '^Serious  Thoughts/' 
etc.  Herein  he  hopes  when  the  Declaration  is  made 
that  ^^  our  first  gratitude  to  the  Almighty  may  be  shown 
by  an  act  of  Continental  legislation,  which  shall  put  a 
stop  to  the  importation  of  negroes,  soften  the  hard 
fate  of  those  already  here,  and  in  ,time  procure  their 
freedom.^'  And  he  says,  long  afterward,  to  the  French 
inhabitants  of  Louisiana  who  wished  the  power  to  im- 
port and  enslave  Africans,  ^^  I>are  ygUiput  up  a  petition 
to  Heaven  for  such  a  power  without  fearing  to  be  struck 
from  the  earth  by  its  justice?"  But  the  person  wdio 
wrote  the  passage  on  slavery  in  the  original  draft  of 
the  Declaration  could  never  have  kept  a  slave  in  bond- 
age, if  any  thing  can  be  gathered  from  the  nobility, 
the  manliness,  the  justice,  and  the  philanthropy  of  its 
spirit.  But  Jefferson,  while  he  has  left  on  record  his 
opposition  in  words  to  slavery,  has  left  also  on  record 
his  acts  to  contradict  both  them  and  the  Declaration. 
I  here  draw  the  veil  over  Jefferson  as  a  slaveholder. 
While  Mr.  Jefferson  was  far  above  tKe  average  mind, 
yet  from  his  mental  make-up,  either  in  his  head,  heart, 
character,  or  capacity,  he  could  not  be  the  author  of 
the  Declaration  of  Independence.  Neither  in  the 
circumstances  of  his  previous  life  nor  personal  history, 
neither  in  the  heart  nor  the  head,  can  we  find  a  foun- 
dation for  the  famous  document.  I  know  of  but  one 
man  American  born,  at  that  day,  with  sufficient  genius 
to  write  it — Benjamin  Franklin — ^and  he  would  have 
18 


276  DECLARATION  OF 

failed  in  the  style  and  language,  and  especially  in  those 
fine  strokes  of  the  aifection.* 

For  Mr.  Paine  to  write  the  Declaration  and  be  ready 
to  hand  it  to  the  chairman  of  the  committee,  is  charac- 
teristic of  the  man.  He  did  the  same  thing  at  the 
"Thatched  House"  tavern  meeting  in  England  in 
1791.  Mr.  Home  Tooke  who  signed  the  Address  and 
Declaration  as  chairman  of  the  meeting,  received  the 
document  privately  from  the  hand  of  Mr.  Paine,  and 
had  Mr.  Tooke  not  afterward  disclaimed  the  author- 
ship of  it  when  charged  upon  him,  Mr.  Paine  would 
never  have  revealed  the  secret.     It  was  revealed  in  this 

*  Since  writing  the  above  criticism,  I  sent  for  and 
"obtained  Theodore  Parker's  work  entitled  Historic 
Sketches.  Previous  to  this  I  had  not  read  a  word  of 
the  work.  With  this  explanation  I  will  give  two  ex- 
tracts from  the  work,  pp.  281,  282:  "Mr.  Jefferson 
had  intellectual  talents  greatly  superior  to  the  common 
mass  of  men,  and  for  the  times  his  opportunities  of 
culture  in  youth,  were  admirable." 

"But  I  can  not  think  his  mind  a  great  one.  I  can 
not  point  out  any  name  of  those  times,  which  may 
stand  in  the  long  interval  [of  capacity]  between  the 
names  of  Franklin  and  John  Adams.  In  the  shorter 
space  between  Adams  and  Jefferson  there  were  many. 
There  was  a  certain  lack  of  solidity  ;  his  intellect  was 
not  very  profound,  not  very  comprehensive.  Intelli- 
gent, able,  adroit  as  he  was,  his  success  as  an  intellect- 
ual man  was  far  from  being  entire  or  complete.  He 
exhibited  no  spark  of  genius,  nor  any  remarkable  de- 
gree of  original,  natural  talent." 

This  so  coincides  with  what  I  had  written,  I  add  it 
to  excite  the  reader  to  an  investigation,  for  I  know 
full  well,  the  intellectual  fame  of  Mr.  Jefferson  will 
not  bear  looking  into. 


INDEPENDENCE.  277 

manner :  Mr.  Tooke  having  spoken  in  commenflatlon 
of  the  Declaration  which  he  signed  ^'  was  jocularly 
accused  of  praising  his  own  work,  and  to  free  him 
from  this  embarrassment  [says  Mr.  Paine],  and  the 
repeated  trouble  of  mentioning  the  author,  as  he  has 
not  failed  to  do,  I  make  no  hesitation  in  saying,  I 
drew  up  the  publication,'^  etc.  Now,  Mr.  Paine  was 
never  guilty  of  praising  his  own  worh,  and  nowhere 
can  I  find  that  he  ever  praised  the  Declaration  of  In- 
dependence as  a  work,  or  that  he  ever  mentioned 
Junius.  Had  Mr.  Jeiferson  been  the  author  of  the 
Declaration,  Mr.  Paine  no  doubt  would  have  called  it 
"^  masterly  performance.^^ 

And  thus  it  is,  his  hand  is  seen,  though  not  pub- 
licly acknowledged,  in  all  those  first  principles  upon 
which  the  fabric  of  our  government  rests.  And  it 
was  the  peculiarity  of  this  great  man  to  do  the  work, 
and  let  others  carry  off  the  honors. 

"  But  truth  shall  conquer  at  the  last ; 
For  round  and  round  we  run, 
And  ever  the  right  comes  uppermost, 
And  ever  is  justice  done." 


Note  A. 

Truly  speaking,  there  is  no  original  Declaration  in 
existence.  There  are  several  "  original ''  Declarations 
extant,  all  diifering  somewhat.  John  Adams  had  one, 
Benjamin    Franklin,  it  is  said,  had  one  in  England. 


278  DECLARATION  OF 

Richard  Henry  Lee  and  others  had  "  originals, "  all  in 
manuscript.  The  one  I  have  followed  may  be  found 
in  Marshall's  Life  of  Washington,  and  does  not  diifer 
only  in  a  few  minor  respects  from  the  one  in  Jeffer- 
son's works,  Washington  edition.  The  real  original 
Was  destroyed  as  soon  as  copied,  and  we  have  only- 
nature  to  guide  us  in  the  study  of  one  which  is  almost 
a  faithful  copy. 


GEAND  OUTLINES  OF  THOMAS 
PAINE'S  LIFE. 

Were  I  to  write  the  biography  of  Thomas  Paine,  I 
should,  with  a  bold  hand,  transcend  the  low  office  of 
a  chronicler,  and  hand  him  down  in  history  thus : 

Thomas  Paine  was  of  Quaker  origin.  In  this  he  in- 
herited more  than  paternal  flesh  and  blood,  more  than 
family  form  and  feature:  he  had  transmitted  to  him  the 
principles  of  George  Fox — principles  which  were,  when 
Mr.  Paine  was  born,  more  than  a  bundled  years  old. 
These  were  a  reliance  on  the  internal  evidences  of  the 
conscience,  prompting  to  moral  action  and  to  the  love 
of  God.  In  this  the  shadow  of  Fox  fell  athwart  the 
Scrij)tures.  The  internal  light  was  with  him  greater 
than  that  which  shone  down  on  the  centuries  from  Je- 
sus of  Nazareth.  The  religions,  and  creeds,  and  opin- 
ions of  the  world  were  to  be  brought  to  the  bar  of 
conscience  for  trial,  and  ^^the  motions  of  the  spirit"— 
not  the  teachings  of^the  Bible — were  to  be  taken  in  ev- 
idence. His  principles  were  universal  in  the  heart  of 
man — not  particular  in  any  special  book. 

To  these  religious  principles  was  added  simplicity  of 
conduct  in  all  the  ways  of  life.  In  religious  or  civil 
affairs,  whether  at  home  or  abroad,  with  his  fellow-man 
or  his  God,  he  was  to  obey  the  behests  of  nature,  and 

(279) 


280  GRAND  OUTLINES  OF 

not  of  man.  To  avoid  the  extravagance  of  dress,  to 
walk  with  dignity  and  grace,  to  deal  uprightly,  to  love 
mercy,  to  rely  on  the  light  within,  to  train  the  heart  to 
courage  and  the  head  to  understanding,  became  the 
chief  aim  of  all  the  followers  of  Fox.  The  consequence 
was,  they  never  bent  the  knee  to  the  forms  of  worship, 
nor  uncovered  the  head  to  the  forms  of  fashion.  To  the 
Quaker,  a  virtuous,  upright,  and  honorable  laborer  was 
of  as  much  consequence,  in  the  line  of  respect  and  the 
eyes  of  God,  as  the  noblest  lord  of  the  realm.  No  out- 
ward show,  no  pageantry  of  church  or  court,  could 
awaken  him  to  respect.  He  looked  within :  there  he 
felt  the  movings  of  the  spirit,  there  he  saw  the  image 
of  his  God,  there  he  went  in  to  woi*ship. 

What  must  be  the  result  of  this  religion?  It  must 
transmit  self-reliance,  fortitude,  courage,  and  morality 
to  the  individual,  and  a  sympathy  for  mankind  which 
will  grant  the  equality  of  rights,  and  produce  a  con- 
tempt for  outward  show,  for  outward  forms  and  cere- 
monies. These  characteristics  will  be  transmitted  to 
children's  children,  and  democracy  is  born  into  a  race 
of  men  before  they  know  it,  or  before  they  know  how 
or  why.  But  here  an  effect  must  not  be  taken  for  a 
cause.  It  was  the  democratic  principle  abroad  in  the 
world  which  produced  the  Quaker  religion,  not  this  re- 
ligion which  produced  it,  and  this  religion  became  after- 
ward an  engine  for  thrusting  democracy  more  deeply 
into  the  constitution  of  man.  It  had  a  work  to  do, 
and  it  did  it  by  inheritance.  It  was  the  democracy  of 
Cromwell,  "that  accomplished  President  of  England," 
which  could  sympathize  with  the  religion  of  Fox, 
which  could  see  no  wrong  in  the  man,  and  which  could 


THOMAfi  PAINE' S  LIFE.  281 

protect  him  from  persecution.  On  the  other  hand,  it 
was  the  religion  of  Penn,  which  would  insult  the  pride 
of  nobles  hy  jjot  uncovering  itself,  and  bowing  in  the 
presence  of  royalty. 

Now,  every  religion  has  a  birth,  growth,  culmina- 
tion, and  subsequent  decay.  It  culminates  in  the  pro- 
duction of  some  great  man,  who  represents,  and  at  the 
same  time  transcends,  the  causes  which  produced  him, 
and  who  afterward  abandons  the  religion  which  gave 
him  birth.  It  has  then  fulfilled  its  work,  and  will 
eventually  die.  Jesus  of  Nazareth  was  the  fulfillment 
of  the  Jewish  religion;  Luther,  of  the  Catholic.  The 
minor  religions  obey  the  same  law.  Unitarianism  cul- 
minated in  Theodore  Parker;  Quakerism,  in  Thomas 
Paine.  At  the  culminating  point,  the  typical  child 
which  is  born,  grows  up,  and  comes  out  from  or  tramples 
upon  the  religion  which  produced  him,  and  is  called  a 
"  come-outer,"  a  '^  protester,^^  an  "  image-breaker,"  or 
an  ^4nfidel."  But  he  has  been  produced  by  causes  over 
which  he  had  no  control,  and  is  the  result  for  which 
they  existed.  With  him  the  religion  declines,  and 
eventually  will  expire. 

The  Quaker  religion  culminated  on  the  29th  of  Jan- 
uary, 1737,  in  the  little  town  of  Thetford,  and  county 
of  Norfolk,  England,  in  the  birth  of  Thomas  Paine. 
Here  Nature  deserted  her  connection  with  the  meeting, 
and  took  up  her  abode  in  the  soul  of  the  child.  She 
has  concentrated  herein  the  democracy  of  centuries,  and 
the  special  forces  of  a  hundred  years.  The  great  prin- 
ciples of  democracy  have  all  been  gathered  here,  and 
organized  into  a  power  which  will  move  the  world. 

Nature  has  also  given  a  hardy  physical   constitu- 


282  GRAND  OUTLINES  OF 

tion,  without  corruption  of  blood  or  bodily  disease,  and 
this  health  of  body  shall  carry  him  safe  through  the 
three-score  and  ten,  with  a  fraction  of  y^ars  to  spare. 
Let  us  now  follow  the  lilies  of  his  life. 

A  religious  antagonism  between  father  and  mother, 
both  before  and  after  his  birth,  strengthened  the  child's 
mind,  for  we  grow  strong  only  through  antagonism. 
But  he  inclined  to  the  Quaker  principles  of  the  father, 
who  had  him  privately  named,  and  did  not  suffer  him 
to  be  baptized,  though  he  was  afterward  confirmed  by 
a  bishop,  through  the  influence  of  an  aunt.  But  the 
outward  acts  of  omission  or  commission,  by  priest  or 
parent,  counted  nothing  in  the  life  of  the  child ;  for  he 
had  thoughts  of  his  own  as  soon  as  old  enough  to  reflect, 
and  he  had  great  gifts  of  inspiration,  for  there  came  to 
himtluoughts  ^'  which  would  bolt  into  the  mind  of  their 
own  accord."  Of  this  intuition  or  inspiration  he  says: 
"I  have  always  made  it  a  rule  to  treat  those  voluntary 
visitors  with  civility,  taking  care  to  examine,  as  well 
as  T  was  able,  if  they  were  worth  entertaining,  and  it 
is  from  them  I  have  acquired  almost  all  the  knowledge 
that  I  have."  Here  those  inherited  principles,  the  re- 
sult of  previous  ages  of  thought,  concentrated  within 
the  child's  mind,  began  to  teacli  him,  aiul  he  listened  to 
their  instruction  at  an  early  age.  "I  well  remember, 
when  about  seven  or  eight  years  of  age,"  says  ho, 
'*  hearing  a  sermon  read  by  a  relation  of  mine,  who  was 
a  great  devotee  of  the  church  [not  of  the  Quaker  meet- 
ing], upon  the  subject  of  what  is  called  redemption  by 
the  death  of  the  son  of  God.  After  the  sermon  was 
ended,  I  went  into  the  garden,  and  as  I  was  going  down 
the  garden  steps,  for  I  perfectly  recollect  the  8[>ot,  I 


THOMAS  PAINE' S  LIFE.  283 

revolted  at  the  recollection  of  what  I  had  heard,  and 
thought  to  myself  that  it  was  making  God  Almighty- 
act  like  a  passionate  man,  that  killed  his  son  when  he 
could  not  revenge  himself  in  any  other  way;  and,  as  I 
was  sure  a  man  would  be  lianged  that  did  such  a  thing, 
I  could  not  see  for  what  purpose  they  preached  such 
sermons."  Here  the  young  child's  mind  was  shocked, 
and  the  '^  voice  of  God  "  within  taught  him  much  wis- 
dom— more  than  he  could  get  in  all  the  sermons  of  the 
bishops. 

His  father,  from  Quaker  principles,  gave  him  moral 
instruction  which  never  left  him  in  after  life.  He  sent 
him  also,  to  a  grammar  school,  where  he  learned  some 
Latin  and  became  acquainted  with  the  subject  matter 
of  all  the  Latin  books  used  in  school;  but  this  was 
clandestinely  done,  as  the  Quakers  were  opposed  to  the 
books  in  which  the  language  was  taught.  He  says  he 
did  not  study  Latin  for  the  above  reason,  and  because 
he  had  no  taste  for  it.  But  at  school  and  at  home  he 
gained  a  useful  stock  of  learning,  "the  bent  of  his  mind 
being  to  science.'^ 

But  when  the  lad  was  thirteen  he  w^as  taken  from 
school,  as  it  had  long  been  too  heavy  a  tax  upon  his 
father,  and  he  was  put  to  work  in  the  shop  as  stay- 
maker.  He  enters  into  full  sympathy  with  his  father, 
and  works  by  his  side  three  years.  The  ''good 
father,"  as  he  afterward  calls  him,  pays  out  no  more 
for  the  son's  education ;  he  has  already  been  "sorely 
pressed  "  for  this  purpose. 

But  during  tliese  three  years  at  the  stay-making 
business,  many  thoughts  have  "  bolted  into  his  mind," 
strange  "voluntary  visitors,"  talking  of  war,  the  army 


284  GRAND  O  UTLINES  OF 

and  navy.  These  thoughts  have  been  "heated  by  the 
false  heroism  "  of  his  former  master,  and  have  set  the 
lad's  mind  on  fire,  burning  up  all  peace  and  content- 
ment. So  in  the  year  1753,  a  little  the  rise  of  sixteen, 
he  bt^gan  to  carve  out  his  own  fortune  by  going  to  sea 
in  the  privateer,  "  King  of  Prussia.'^  The  "  good 
father '^  must  have  "thought  him  lost,"  but  this  was  a 
phantom  of  the  imagination  in  both  father  and  son. 
There  is  a  principle  in  him  which  shall  hold  him  steady 
on  land  and  sea.  Restless  and  venturesome,  driven  by 
a  force  he  wots  not  of,  the  little  island  of  Britain  could 
not  confine  him,  much  less  his  father's  shop.  Here  he 
satisfies  the  war  spirit,  and  tinges  his  skeptical  mind 
with  a  slight  shade  of  sailors'  superstition.  Yet 
with  this  adventure  of  "false  heroism  against  him'* 
in  setting  out  in  life,  he  passes  through  a  schooling 
with  the  world  which  shall  make  for  him  mightily  in 
the  end.  He  never  considered  this  beginning  in  his 
favor,  and  has  said  but  little  about  it.  I  can  not  find 
out  how  long  he  lived  on  the  sea,  but  he  turns  up  at 
Sandwicli  five  or  six  years  afterward  as  master  stay- 
maker.  Here  he  married  to  Mary  Lambert,  a  young 
woman  of  much  personal  worth,  who,  dying  a  year 
afterward,  leaves  a  shade  on  his  mind  for  life. 

But  liis  employment  did  not  suit  the  turn  of  his 
mind,  and  near  the  close  of  1763  he  entered  the  eniploy 
of  government  as  exciseman.  For  a  faithful  perform- 
ance of  his  duty  he  was  dismissed  from  this  offiet*, 
because  the  impartial  ])erformance  of  that  duty  would 
expose  him  to  the  censure  of  the  })ower  which  invested 
him  with  office.  I  say  for  a  faithful  performance  of  his 
duty  he  was  dismissed,  and  for  these  reasons  I  say  it: 


THOMAS  PAINE' 8  LIFE,  285 

1.  When  he  is  restored  to  the  same  office  afterward 
upon  his  petition  are  these  words,  "  No  complaint  of  the 
least  dishonesty  or  intemperance  appeared  against  me." 
And  so  it  was  not  for  a  dereliction  of  duty. 

2.  Mr.  Paine  was  a  man  of  uncommon  abilities,  and 
it  could  not  be  for  want  of  capacity. 

3.  Excise  officers  were  compelled  sometimes  to  violate 
the  law  to  favor  the  nobility  and  the  court  of  the  realm, 
or  suffer  the  penalty  of  dismissal.  See  Vale's  Life  of 
Paine,  p.  19. 

Honest  and  capable  he  has  wounded  the  corrupt 
heart  of  the  government.  Too  proud  to  retract,  too 
honest  to  confess,  he  is  turned  out  of  office  to  brood 
over  his  offense.  The  government  has  also  stabbed 
him  to  the  heart,  and  the  stab  reaches  to  the  most 
tender  chords,  his  personal  pride,  his  honor.  This  sets 
on  fire  his  whole  nature,  yet  darkly  secretive  it  becomes 
molten  lava  in  his  own  breast.  It  will  some  day  burst 
forth  a  consuming  fire.  "  Vengeance  is  mine,''  says  the 
war-spirit  within  him.  ^^Bide  thy  time,"  says  caution. 
"  Keep  thy  own  council,"  says  secretiveness.  He  has 
now  an  object  in  view,  his  resolution  is  made. 

'^I  will  strike  the  dagger  to  the  heart  of  profligate 
lords  and  courtiers.  I  will  trample  on  the  pride  of 
kings,  and  fortified  with  that  proud  integrity,  that 
disdain  to  triumph  or  to  yield,  I  will  advocate  the 
rights  of  man."  He  now  steps  forth  to  begin  his  life's 
work. 

He  waits  not  long  to  brood  over  his  miseries,  but 
immediately  sets  off*  for  London  to  inform  the  mind. 
A  little  the  rise  of  twenty-eight  he  enters  fully  into 
the  study  of  the  natural  sciences,  and  teaches  in  an 


286  GRAND  OUTLINES  OF 

academy  to  defray  expenses.  He  attends  the  philo- 
sophical lectures  of  Mr.  Martin  and  Ferguson,  and  be- 
comes acquainted  with  Dr.  Bevis,  the  astronomer  and 
member  of  the  Royal  Society.  He  made  himself  mas- 
ter of  the  globes  and  orrery,  and  acquired  a  knowledge 
of  natural  philosophy ^  a  term  which  then  took  in  a 
wide  field  of  science.  We  find  him  well  acquainted 
with  chemistry,  and  also  the  higher  mathematics.  Here 
he  doubtless  studied  French,  for  afterward  we  find 
when  called  from  an  active  life  to  visit  France  he 
could  read  but  not  speak  the  language.  Yet  this,  as 
well  as  rhetoric  and  law,  and  many  other  branches  of 
learning,  he  could  acquire  while  in  the  em23loy  of  gov- 
ernment. 

It  is  evident  that  while  at  London  this  year  he 
threw  his  whole  soul  into  study. 

How  easily  he  could  have  risen  to  preferment  in  any 
branch  of  natural  science  must  have  been  well  known 
to  himself  when  coming  in  contact  with  these  great 
minds  of  his  age.     But  he  has  other  work  on  hand. 

There  are  many  reasons  for  concluding  he  became 
acquainted  with  Franklin  this  year,  among  thera  these 
five: 

1.  Because  he  was  eager  to  cultivate  the  acquaintance 
of  great  men  of  science,  and  Franklin,  then  in  London, 
stood  at  the  head  of  all. 

2.  Franklin  was  easy  of  access  to  the  friends  of 
learning. 

3.  Mr.  Paine  would  be  brought  in  hearty  sympathy 
with  the  representative  of  the  new  world,  who  was  at 
court,  to  represent  the  rights  of  man. 

4.  At  this  very  time,  Feb.  3,  1766,  when  we  know 


THOMAS  PAINE' S  LIFE,  287 

Mr.  Paine  was  attending  to  his  studies  and  cultivating 
the  acquaintance  of  the  learned,  Dr.  Franklin  was 
brought  more  conspicuously  before  the  English  nation 
than  ever  before,  or  thereafter,  by  undergoing  an  ex- 
amination in  the  House  of  Commons  upon  the  policy 
of  repealing  the  Stamp  Act ;  and  never  were  the  great 
talents  of  this  great  man  exhibited  so  fully  and  favora- 
bly as  then. 

5.  Mr.  Paine  says:  "The  favor  of  Dr.  Franklin's 
friendship  I  possessed  in  England  [and  friendship  with 
Mr.  Paine  means  time  to  prove  z7],  and  my  introduction 
to  this  part  of  the  world  was  through  his  patronageJ^ 
Patronage  means  to  aid  or  promote  a  design.  This 
design,  and  this  friendship  formed  upon  which  it  was 
founded,  would  take  some  few  years  with  both  of  these 
men,  for  they  were  both  secretive,  reserved,  and  non- 
committal, slow  in  forming  attachments,  and  extremely 
cautious  in  the  selection  of /ne/icZs.  "  The  first  founda- 
tion of  friendship,"  says  Junius,  "  is  not  the  power  of 
conferring  benefits,  but  the  equality  with  which  they 
are  received  and  may  be  returned. 

Mr.  Paine  now  makes  application  to  be  restored  to 
the  office  from  which  he  was  dismissed.  On  his  peti- 
tion was  written:  "July  4th,  1766;  to  be  restored 
on  a  proper  vacancy .''  The  Foukth  of  July  is 
ominous.  Great  events  are  in  store  for  this  young 
man  within  the  next  ten  years.  He  quits  the  society  , 
of  the  learned  and  the  halls  of  learning,  and  goes  down 
at  the  most  hopeful  ancl  ambitious  period  of  life  into 
this  "inferior  office  of  the  revenue"  to  serve  for  the 
"petty  pittance  of  less  than  fifty  pounds  a  year."  Does 
he  go  then  to  satisfy  his  taste  for  learning,  or  to  get 


288  GRAND  OUTLINES  OF 

rich  ?  No ;  but  to  reach  the  object  of  his  ambition. 
He  goes  there  to  spy  out  the  meanness,  the  corruption, 
the  viUainy,  the  abandoned  profligacy  of  the  British 
Government. 

The  British  GoveAment  has  now  a  masked  enemy 
who  is  coming  in  and  going  out  at  the  nation^s  doors, 
not  a  spy  upon  her  liberties,  but  her  villainies,  a  foe  to 
the  one  and  a  friend  to  the  other. 

But  he  has  not  forsaken  his  studies,  he  is  just  enter- 
ing upon  them.  Taking  up  English  history  he  makes 
it  a  study,  which  becomes  the  history  of  the  civilized 
world,  for  it  reaches  out  into  Spain,  France,  Austria, 
Prussia,  Russia,  America,  India,  and  Rome.  Mr. 
Paine  followed  its  lines  into  all  countries.  He  also 
made  a  study  of  her  laws  and  the  principles  of  her  con- 
stitution, and  read  the  French  commentators  thereon, 
at  the  same  time  he  had  an  eye  to  politics  and  the  per- 
sonal history  of  her  living  public  men.  For  three 
years  and  a  half,  together  with  his  pul)lic  duties,  he 
labored  to  lay  a  foundation  for  a  long  and  active  lit- 
erary life. 

Do  you  ask  how  I  know  this?  I  answer,  because 
when  he  came  to  America  he  was  thus  accomplished, 
and  when  he  went  into  the  excise  office  he  was  not. 

It  is  now  six  years  since  he  first  entered  the  employ 
of  government,  one  year  of  which  time  he  spent  in  the 
arts  and  sciences,  and  nearly  four  as  student,  officer, 
and  detective  for  the  sons  of  freedom  throughout  tlie 
world.  He  is,  by  nature,  a  detective  of  the  Inghest 
order.  He  has  formed  the  friendship  of  Benjamin 
Franklin,  who,  at  the  court,  is  also  a  detective,  and 
what  he  knows  of  America  and  the  English  court  shall 


THOMAS  PAINE' S  LIFE.  289 

now  be  made  known.  He  has  written  ^' numherless 
trifles''  for  the  public  press  to  get  his  hand  in,  and  now, 
having  a  definite  plan  formed,  and  a  noble  object  in  view, 
he  opens  the  new  year  of  1769,  with  something  which 
indeed  is  new.  It  was  the  first  Letter  of  ^'Junius," 
named  after  Junius  Brutus,  who  stabbed  Caesar  for 
having  usurped  the  liberties  of  Rome.  Junius  thrust 
home  his  dagger.  This  stab  went  to  the  heart  of 
a  rotten  court,  and,  since  Cromwell,  it  was  the  greatest 
thing  that  ever  happened  to  England.  The  people 
read  it  with  mingled  sentiments  of  fear  and  hope;  the 
partisan  read  it  with  fear  and  rage;  the  scholar,  with 
feelings  of  respect;  the  courtesan,  with  pallor  on  his 
cheek,  and  trembling  in  his  limbs;  and  the  king  and 
ministers,  with  sentiments  of  torture  and  frenzy.  But 
when  Franklin  took  it  up,  with  what  feelings  of  hope 
and  pride  did  he  read  and  re-read  the  paragraphs  in 
regard  to  the  colonies,  which  began  with  this  sentence : 
^'  A  series  of  inconsistent  measures  has  alienated  the 
colonies  from  their  duty  as  subjects,  and  from  their 
natural  affection  to  their  common  country.''  This  is 
the  key  note  to  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  which 
shall  appear  seven  years  afterward.  The  dagger  was 
driven  to  the  hilt.  Paine  long  afterward  said:  ''The 
cause  of  America  made  me  an  author." 

Three  years,  to  a  day,  and  he  is  Junius  no  more. 
His  object  was  revolution  on  British  soil,  the  ministers 
brought  to  trial,  and  the  king  deposed.  He  called  for 
a  leader  in  vain — he  wrote  against  fate.  But  the  work 
must  go  on.  He  consecrates  himself  anew  to  the  cause; 
he  dedicates  his  life  to  the  good  of  man.  Friend, 
kindred,  wife,  and  the  dear,  native  land,  weigh  lightly 


2^  ORAND  O  UTLINES  OF 

in  the  balance  against  the  ^'business  of  a  workV  He 
leaves  them  all.  His  mind  has  been  liberated  from  the 
prejudices  of  an  island  by  the  study  of  astronomy,  and 
a  life  on  the  sea,  and  schooled  by  disappointment  in  po- 
litical strife,  he  turns  his  face  to  the  West, 

He  has  left  his  second  wife;  parted  with  her  forever. 
Mr.  Paine  was  a  man  of  strong  personal  attachment; 
he  had  deep  and  lasting  affection.  But  what  was  wife 
to  the  "  business  of  a  worldJ^  Long  after  this  separ- 
ation, in  his  old  age,  after  he  had  gone  through  two 
revolutions,  the  American  and  the  French,  Mrs.  Paine, 
though  not  agreeing  with  Thomas  in  religious  opinions, 
on  hearing  him  disrespectfully  spoken  of  because  he 
had  written  the  Age  of  Reason,  indignantly  left  the 
company  of  his  revilers.  And  Mr.  Paine,  when  asked 
why  did  you  leave  your  wife,  would  respond :  "  I  had 
a  cause ;  it  is  no  business  of  any  body."  True  to  her 
during  life,  and  she  to  him,  there  is  more  in  this  than 
has  been  revealed. 

But  before  he  leaves  England  there  is  a  definite 
plan  formed,  it  is  revolution  and  reconciliation ;  but 
if  not  reconciliation,  it  is  revolution  and  indei^endenoe. 
Tyranny  sliall  be  destroyed  at  all  hazards.  He  pixi- 
parcs  himself  for  war,  ^*  and  if  the  English  Govern- 
ment wins  in  the  contest,"  says  Paine,  "  she  wins  from 
me  my  life."  He  leaves  all  his  world's  goods  for  the 
support  of  his  wife,  his  capital  stock  is  his  pen.  Frank- 
lin understands  it  all.  He  knows  full  well  this  son  of 
a  Quaker,  this  Junius  of  the  quill,  and  he  feels  the  need 
of  him  for  America's  sake,  and  that  scientific  head  of 
his  thinks  soundly  on  the  work  which  shall  tell  for  the 
ages.     Franklin    was   then   acknowledged   to   be   the 


THOMAS  PAINE' S  LIFE.  291 

greatest  man  in  the  world,  as  he  was;  and  the  same 
judgment  which  never  led  him  wrong,  and  which 
made  for  him  renown,  pronounced  also  on  the  character 
and  abilities  of  Thomas  Paine.  These  two  men  per- 
fectly agreed  in  politics  and  religion,  and  this  covers 
the  whole  realm  of  opinion.  Their  origin  and  their 
leading  traits  of  character  were  the  same;  secretive, 
cautious,  courageous,  and  proud  of  heart,  witty  and 
sarcastic,  deeply  read  in  the  history  of  the  world  and 
of  the  human  heart,  having  come  out  of  the  loins  of 
toil  and  the  lap  of  poverty,  the  history  of  their  lives 
blend  and  conspire  to  unite  their  affections  and  direct 
their  labors.  What  these  two  men  shall  do,  the  world 
is  yet  too  stupid  to  think  about.  But  their  plan  is  made 
in  England,  and  under  the  patronage  of  the  one  the 
other  is  introduced  to  America. 

If  you  truly  believe  Benjamin  Franklin  to  be  a  fool, 
let  me  tell  you  how  you  can  demonstrate  it.  Prove 
to  the  world  that  Thomas  Paine  began  his  literary  life 
in  America,  and  that  Franklin  intrusted  the  greatest 
work  of  a  nation,  and  the  business  of  a  world  to  an 
obscure  English  exciseman,  without  previous  history  or 
character,  and  your  point  is  made.  Yet  this  is  just 
what  chronologists  would  have  us  believe ;  hut  history 
delves  beneath  recorded  events. 

Franklin  was  then  an  old  man,  he  had  almost 
reached  his  three-score  years  and  ten ;  Paine  was  thirty- 
one  years  and  twelve  days  the  younger.  Franklin  has 
fifteen  years  of  life  and  labor  before  him  yet ;  Paine  thir- 
ty-four. The  young  scion  of  Democracy  is  growing  up 
from  the  same  root  by  the  side  of  the  old  stalk.  Here 
youth  supports  old  age,  and  the  boughs  interlock,  and 
19 


292  GRAND  OUTLINES  OF 

they  shall  thus  stand  firm,  supported  by  each  other 
against  the  terrible  shocks  which  are  yet  to  come  dur- 
ing the  "hurricane  months"  of  political  revolution. 
"  I  am  the  sole  depository  of  my  own  secret,  and  it 
shall  perish  with  me,"  said  Junius;  but  Franklin  had 
been  taught  of  nature,  and  the  secret  was  kept. 

Near  the  close  of  the  year  1774,  Junius  lands  in 
America,  and  begins  to  dwell  in  the  capital  of  the  colo- 
nies, Philadelphia.  Many  things  conspired  to  take  hira 
there:  it  was  the  Quaker  city  of  brotherly  love;  it  was 
Franklin's  home;  and,  above  all,  the  Continental  Con- 
gress sat  there.  « 

Immediately,  that  is,  within  two  months  after  land- 
ing, he  is  employed  as  editor  of  the  Pennsylvania  Maga- 
zine. He  did  not  write  as  editors  do,  but  his  contribu- 
tions appeared  over  the  signature  of  Atlanticds — ^a 
name  which,  like  Junius,  was  the  shadow  of  the  writer. 
From  the  first  he  wielded  a  mighty  pen,  and  his  contri- 
butions were  noticed  and  highly  commended.  The  fol- 
lowing extract  is  from  one  of  his  first  efforts  in  America, 
and  consequently  stands  almost  a  year  closer  to' Junius 
than  Common  Sense.  As  it  shows  the  hand  of  a  mas- 
ter, long  trained  at  the  art,  I  give  it  here,  as  a  perfect 
sample  of  Junius: 

"  Though  nature  is  gay,  polite,  and  generous  abroad, 
she  is  sullen,  rude,  and  niggardly  at  home.  Return  the 
visit,  and  she  admits  you  with  all  the  suspicion  of  a  mi- 
ser, and  all  the  reluctance  of  an  antiquated  beauty  re- 
tired to  replenish  her  charms.  Bred  up  in  antediluvian 
notions,  she  has  not  yet  acquired  the  Euro[>ean  taste  of 
receiving  visitants  in  her  dressing-room ;  she  locks  and 
bolts  up  her  private  recesses  with  extraordinary  care,  as 


THOMAS  FAINE\S  LIFE.  293 

if  not  only  resolved  to  preserve  her  hoards,  but'to  con- 
ceal her  age,  and  hide  the  remains  of  a  face  that  was 
young  and  lovely  in  the  days  of  Adam.  He  that  would 
view  nature  in  her  undress,  and  partake  of  her  internal 
treasures,  must  proceed  with  the  resolution  of  a  robber, 
if  not  a  ravisher.  She  gives  no  invitation  to  follow  her 
to  the  caverns ;  the  external  earth  makes  no  proclama- 
tion of  the  internal  stores,  but  leaves  to  chance  and  in- 
dustry the  discovery  of  the  whole.  In  such  gifts  as  na- 
ture can  annually  recreate  she  is  noble  and  profuse,  and 
entertains  the  whole  world  with  the  interest  of  her  for- 
tunes, but  watches  over  the  capital  with  the  care  of  a 
miser.  Her  gold  and  jewels  lie  concealed  in  the  earth 
in  caves  of  utter  darkness;  the  hoards  of  wealth, 
heaps  upon  heaps,  mould  in  the  chests,  like  the  riches 
of  the  necromancer's  cell.  It  must  be  very  pleasant  to 
an  adventurous  speculatist  to  make  excursions  into  these 
gothic  regions,  and  in  his  travels  he  may  possibly  come 
to  a  cabinet,  locked  up  in  some  rocky  vault,  whose 
treasures  shall  reward  his  toil,  and  enable  him  to  shine, 
on  his  return,  as  splendidly  as  nature  herself 

The  massacre  of  Lexington  takes  place  the  19th  of 
April,  this  year.  Paine  had  been  but  a  few  montlis  in 
America.  Franklin  is  in  the  middle  of  the  Atlantic, 
on  his  way  home.  He  arrives  in  May,  and  the  Decla- 
rntion  of  Independence  is  now  in  existence,  but  only  con- 
ceived in  thought.  It  will  have  to  bide  its  time,  locked 
up  there  in  the  brain ;  besides,  events  are  yet  to  happen 
which  shall  be  put  in  it,  and  the  country  is  not  yet  pre- 
pared for  it.  The  people  have  no  unanimity  of  senti- 
ment.    Congress  is  weak  and  trifling ;  it  wants  recon- 


294  GRAND  OUTLINES  OF 

ciliatlon,  and  permits  the  British  to  land  troops,  to  de- 
stroy the  liberties  of  the  people,  and  to  steal  the  powder 
of  the  colonies.  The  country  must  be  roused  to  senti- 
ments of  patriotism,  and  the  magazines  must  be  filled 
with  powder,  to  support  the  Declaration  of  Indepen- 
dence, before  it  appears  to  the  world. 

Mr.  Paine  now  sets  about  the  work.  He  wishes  the 
American  people  to  be  consistent — to  not  talk  of  liberty 
without  acting  it  out ;  and  he  gives  them  "  Serious 
Thoughts^'  on  negro  slavery  to  think  about.  It  is  a 
feeler,  sent  out  to  test  public  sentiment,  and  to  put  the 
^people  to  thinking  in  the  right  direction.  He  struck — 
as  he  always  did — when  the  iron  was  hot;  and,  between 
the  hammer  and  the  iron,  sparks  were  emitted  which 
kept  burning  in  America  for  ninety  years.  His  words 
were :  "  Stop  the  importation  of  negroes,  soften  the  hard 
fate  of  those  already  here,  and  in  time  procure  their  free- 
dom." He  believed  that  the  justice  of  Heaven  would 
^«ome  day  blot  it  out.  This  piece  brought  Mr.  Paine 
many  friends  and  high  hopes.  Common  Sense  shortly 
afterward  came  from  the  press,  to  stir  up  revolution  in 
the  hearts  of  the  people. 

He  no\f  turns  his  attention  to  chemistry,  experiments 
in  the  art  of  making  saltpeter  cheaply,  publishes  his  1*8- 
•searches,  and  organizes  a  company  to  gratuitously  sup- 
ply the  public  magazines  with  powder.  He  is  boldly 
working  out  his  ])lan.  He  gives  Common  Sense  to  each 
colony  by  copyright,  and  the  poor,  ignorant  dolts  of  that 
ttge  and  this  age  wonder  why  he  did  not  make  himself 
rich  in  the  sale  of  it.  The  fcwls  must  loarn  that  he  was 
faiaking  patriots,  not  pounds  and  pence,  to  serve  his  pur- 
pose and  plan.     Franklin  smiles  at  the  work  as  it  goes 


THOMAS  PAIlSfE^S  LIFE.  29ft, 

on,  for  to  effect  a  revolution  the  country  will  be  sorely 
in  need  of  powder  and  patriotism.  But  Washingtoa 
they  can  rely  on  for  this  latter.  When  others  fail 
whose  mouths  were  always  open  to  profess  liberty,  he 
shall  stand  firm ;  when  they  desert  the  cause,  he  shall 
strike  the  harder  and  more  nobly. 

When  war  begins  public  sentiment  changes  quickly. 
The  American  people  are  now  ready  for  war,  made  so 
within  a  few  months.  Congress  comes  together  with 
more  strength  in  its  back- bone,  more  pluck  in  its  heart ; 
and,  on  the  7th  of  June,  a  committee  of  five  is 
appointed  to  draft  a  Declaration  of  Independence. 
Thomas  Paine  makes  a  concise  reproduction  of  Com- 
mon Sense;  constructs  it  upon  mechanical  principles, 
so  that  it  will  first  convince  the  understanding,  and, 
having  entered  the  head,  will  soon  reach  the  heart,  for 
it  is  made  on  purpose  to  storm  the  passions  of  men. 
He  privately  hands  it  to  Thomas  Jefierson.  It  is  quite 
fortunate  that  he  was  chairman  of  that  committee.  But 
in  the  act  the  honor  of  Thomas  Paine  is  pledged  for  se- 
crecy ;  it  is  an  honor  without  spot,  and  he  locks  up  the 
act  forever  in  his  own  breast  with  Junius. 

The  Declaration  is  read  on  the  streets  amid  cheers; 
it  is  read  in  churches  with  thanksgiving  and  praise;  it 
is  read  in  the  legislative  halls  of  the  states,  and  at  the 
firesides  of  patriots;  it  is  read  in  the  camp  of  the  sol- 
dier, and  by  officers  to  their  battalions ;  it  is  proclaimed 
by  the  congress  of  the  new  nation,  and  from  the  house- 
tops to  all  mankind.  It  is  the  second  child  of  a  man 
who  has  on  his  hands  the  "business  of  a  world.^' 

Now  let  the  nation  buckle  on  its  armor,  and  look 
forward  to  peace  won  only  in  blood.     The  Declaration 


296  GRAND  OUTLINES  OF 

of  Independence  is  an  easy  thing  compared  with  what 
is  to  come.     We  shall  see  this  man's  work  in  war. 

Washington  is  at  the  head  of  the  army ;  John 
Adams,  whose  head  is  a  perfect  battery  of  war  forces, 
is  at  the  head  of  the  board  of  war.  Upon  this  man's 
office  depends  more  than  any  other  in  the  nation,  for  he 
is  Sec7^etary  of  War.  Mr.  Paine  has  no  office,  no 
power  of  position,  not  known  to  the  nation^  nor  to  the 
world,  foi?  Common  Sense  was  thought  to  be  the  pro- 
duction of  Franklin  or  John  Adams.  Thomas  Paine 
had  great  faith  in  Washington,  not  so  much  in  Lee. 
John  Adams  distrusted  Washington,  and  called  him 
"a  dolt,"  but  put  great  confidence  in  Lee,  an  English 
deserter,  and  more  than  an  American  traitor.  Paine 
never  misjudged  a  man;  John  Adams  never  judged  a 
man  rightly.  As  colonies,  this  country  has  done  much 
for  independence;  as  a  nation,  nothing.  She  is  now  to 
be  tried. 

Paine  enlists  as  a  soldier  with  the  "  Flying  Camp." 
The  British  fleet  is  repulsed  from  Charleston,  S.  C, 
and  can  not  land  her  army  of  English,  Scotch,  and 
Hessians;  but  now,  in  August,  she  effects  a  landing 
on  Long  Island.  Washington  is  there  with  twenty 
thousand  men  with  guns,  but  no  soldiers  in  arms.  He 
loses  a  battle  on  Long  Island,  and  retreats  therefrom. 
In  October,  he  loses  the  battle  of  White  Plains.  In 
November,  Fort  Washington,  with  two  thousand  six 
hundred  men,  and  our  be?t  cannon  and  arms  are  taken 
by  the  British  command,  and  Fort  Lee  falls,  leaving 
commissary  and  quartc^rmasters'  stores  and  cannon  iu 
the  hands  of  the  British.  Washington  now  retreats 
through  the  Jerseys,  the  British  hard  after.     As  they 


THOMAS  PAINMS  LIFE.  297 

retreat,  Paine  writes  at  night  on  a  drum -head.  In 
nineteen  days,  ^^  often  in  sight  and  within  cannon-shot 
of  each  other,  the  rear  of  the  one  employed  in  pulling 
down  bridges,  and  the  van  of  the  other  in  building 
them  up,"  Washington  effected  a  march  of  ninety 
miles.  The  weather  was  severe,  the  roads  bad,  and  his 
army  without  blankets,  tents,  or  provisions.  In  four 
months  his  army  dwindles  from  twenty  thousand  down 
to  less  than  three  thousand.  In  the  meantime,  the 
Indians  have  been  committing  ravages  on  the  frontier, 
and  in  the  heart  of  the  country  a  great  party  demand 
absolute  submission.  The  Quakers  oppose  the  war. 
There  is  no  money  to  pay  soldiers,  nor  clothing  to  put 
on  them ;  they  are  poorly  armed,  and  there  is  but  little 
powder  to  put  in  the  guns.  Congress  has  only  voted 
for  battalions,  and  there  is  an  enemy  "  in  the  nation^s 
bowels  "  that  votes  can  not  resist.  After  Congress  had 
voted  for  battalions,  it  took  its  flight  from  Philadel- 
phia to  Baltimore,  destroying  public  credi,t  and  throw- 
ing upon  Washington  the  responsibility  of  directing 
all  things  relative  to  the  operations  of  the  war.  The 
fate  of  the  nation  rests  in  the  balance;  the  beam  is  not 
equally  poised,  the  nation  is  going  down.  Washing- 
ton is  beyond  the  Delaware ;  the  Hessians  are  at  Tren- 
ton. He  makes  a  stand  U)  look  into  the  faces  of  but 
^'twenty-four  hundred  men  strong  enough  to  be  his 
companions."  And  on  the  20th  of  December,  he  tells 
a  voting  and  cowardly  Congress  :  "Ten  days  more  will 
put  an  end  to  this  army."     These  are  "  black  days." 

Where  now  are  the  hopes  of  America  ?  Where  are 
the  committeemen  who  took  the  Declaration  of  Inde- 
pendence   into    Congress?      Franklin    has    gone    to 


298  GRAND  OUTLINES  OF 

France  to  work  for  the  nation  ;  Jefferson  has  refused 
to  go  with  liim,  and  is  at  home  in  Virginia  safe  with 
his  slaves.  But  where  is  John  Adams,  who  said  that 
Jefferson  had  stolen  his  ideas  from  him  to  put  into 
the  Declaration  of  Independence?  Where  is  the  chief 
representative  from  New  England,  this  "Colossus" 
of  debate,  this  chief  of  the  war  committee  ?  Mliere  is 
John  Adams  in  this  darkest  hour  of  his  country's 
trial?  He  has  deserted  her;  he  went  home  on  the 
13th  of  October  after  the  first  reverse,  and  is  "brave 
in  his  home  by  the  sea,"  but  will  not  come  back  till 
four  months  are  past,  and  Washington  makes  himself 
famous.  The  poor  dupe  to  his  passions.  Lee  he 
loved,  Washington  he  hated;  a  patriot  this,  a  traitor 
that.  But  where  is  the  man  who  has  on  hand  the 
business  of  a  world?  We  shall  see.  In  this  midnight 
of  the  revolution  he  has  been  writing  something.  He 
has  been  in  the  army  as  a  soldier,  but  has  found  time 
to  write.     Il>  is  his  first  crisis,  and  it  runs  thus  : 

"These  are  the  times  that  try  men*s  souls.  The 
summer  soldier  and  the  sunshine  patriot  will  in  this 
crisis  shrink  from  the  service  of  his  countiy;  but  he 
that  stands  it  now  deserves  the  love  and  thanks  of  man 
and  woman.  Tyranny,  like  hell,  is  not  easily  con- 
quered, yet  we  have  this  consolation  left  with  us,  that 
the  harder  the  conflict  the  more  glorious  the  triumph." 
He  produces  one  of  his  most  masterly  pieces.  He 
appeals  to  Heaven,  and  prays  for  some  Jersey  maid, 
like  Joan  of  Arc,  to  spirit  up  hor  countrymen.  He 
deals  the  king  and  Lord  Howe  heavy  blows,  deftly  laid 
on ;  and  of  the  tory,  he  says :  "  Good  God !  what  is  he? 
Every  tory  is  a  coward;  for  servile,  slavish,  self-in- 


THOMAS  PAINE>8  LIFE,  299 

terested  fear  is  the  foundation  of  toryisni."  Having 
reviewed  the  enemies  of  the  country  he  then  "  turns 
with  the  warm  ardor  of  a  friend  to  those  who  have 
nobly  stood  and  are  determined  to  stand  the  matter 
out."  ..."  Let  them  call  me  rebel  and  welcome," 
says  he,  "  I  feel  no  concern  from  it;  but  I  should  suffer 
the  miseries  of  devils  were  I  to  make  a  whore  of  my 
soul  by  swearing  allegiance  to  one  whose  character  is 
that  of  a  sottish,  stupid,  stubborn,  worthless,  brutish 
man."  In  this  he  also  pays  a  tribute  to  Washington, 
in  which  he  says :  "  God  has  given  him  a  mind  that 
can  flourish  upon  care."  "The  heart  that  feels  not 
now  is  dead,  the  blood  of  his  children  will  curse  his 
cowardice,  who  shrinks  back  now."  "  I  love  the  man 
that  can  smile  in  trouble,  that  can  gather  strength  by 
distress  and  grow  brave  by  reflection.  'Tis  the  busi- 
ness of  little  minds  to  shrink,  but  he  whose  heart  is 
firm  will  pursue  his  principle  unto  death."  "  By  per- 
severance and  fortitude  we  have  the  prospect  of  a 
glorious  issue;  by  cowardice  and  submission,  the  sad 
choice  of  a  variety  of  evils — a  ravaged  country,  a  de- 
populated city,  habitations  without  safety,  and  slavery 
without  hope;  our  homes  turned  into  barracks  and 
bawdy  hpuses  for  Hessians,  and  a  future  race  to  pro- 
vide for,  whose  fathers  we  shall  doubt  of.  Look  on 
this  picture  and  weep  over  it!  and  if  there  yet  remains 
one  thoughtless  wretch  who  believes  it  not,  let  him 
suffer  it  unlamented." 

This  little  pamphlet  was  dated  Dec.  23,  1776.  It 
was  read  at  the  head  of  the  regiments  which  made  up 
the  small  remnant  of  Washington's  army.  On  Christmas 
night,  Washington  recrosses  the  Delaware,  and  strikes 


300  GRAND  OUTLINES  OF 

the  Hessians  at  Trenton  the  next  morning.  His  horse 
is  shot  under  him,  but  he  wins  his  first  battle  and  takes 
nearly  a  thousand  prisoners,  eight  cannon,  and  twelve 
hundred  small  arms.  A  few  days  afterward,  Washing- 
ton struck  the  British  at  Princeton,  who  lost  in  killed 
and  wounded  two  hundred,  and  of  prisoners  the  Ameri- 
cans took  two  hundred  and  thirty.  Many  of  Wash- 
ington's best  soldiers  being  now  quite  barefoot  and 
badly  clad,  and  the  winter  weather  severe,  he  closed 
the  first  campaign  made  glorious  for  freedom  by  the 
pen  of  that  man  who  had  undertaken  the  "  business  of 
a  worldJ' 

But  in  the  fall  and  winter  before  this  his  pen  was 
not  idle.  The  new  Constitution  of  Pennsylvania  had 
distracted  the  State,  and  Paine  tries  to  bring  order  out 
of  chaos.  He  is  not  unmindful  of  the  Quakers,  who 
will  not  obey  the  teachings  of  their  religion  and  re- 
main neutral,  and  it  is  a  severe  chastisement  he  gives 
them,  for  he  talks  to  them  as  one  having  authority. 

Five  weeks  after  the  first  cam})aign  was  ended  John 
Adams  came  back  to  Congress,  not  willing  to  be  calle<l 
"a  sunshine  patriot"  in  his  home  by  the  sea.  But  it 
was  not  cowardice  which  made  this  chief  of  the  war 
committee  desert  his  post  iif  the  most  trying  months 
of  his  country — it  was  downright  meanness  of  the  tem- 
per. I  mention  him  again  here  because  in  April  this 
year,  1777,  he  makes  a  motion  that  Tiiomas  Paine  be 
rmade  secretary  to  the  committee  on  foreign  nfllairs. 
Mr.  Paine  went  on  duty.  Tliis  was,  doubtless,  brought 
about  by  rxMijamin  Franklin,  who  is  now  in  France 
to  secure  the  favors  of  the  government,  and  as  secrecy 
is  the  success  of  diplomacy,  Franklin  wants  Paine  to 


THOMAS  PAINirS  LIFE.  301 

receive  his  dispatches,  for  in  him  he  can  trust.  It 
was  while  in  this  office,  as  detective,  that  lie  was 
made  acquainted  with  the  misconduct  of  Silaa  Deane. 
The  stores  which  Mr.  Deane  obtained  from  France 
were  a  gift  to  this  country,  but  he  afterward  brought 
in  a  demand  for  them,  fraudulently  pretending  that  he 
had  purchased  them.  This  was  in  December,  1778. 
On  the  29th  of  this  month  Mr.  Paine  began  a  series 
of  letters  in  the  Pennsylvania  Packet  entitled,  *^  Com- 
mon Sense  to  the  Public  on  Mr.  Deane's  Affairs."  He 
did  this  to  protect  the  Government,  and  took  the  re- 
sponsibility upon  himself  to  save  other  parties.  He 
began  by  saying  of  Mr.  Deane,  '^as  he  rose  like  a 
rocket  he  would  fall  like  a  stick."  Three  letters  had 
made  their  appearance  when  Mr.  Paine  was  commanded 
to  appear  before  Congress.  The  President  inquired' of 
him,  '^  Did  you  write  this  piece  ?  "  "I  am  the  author 
of  that  piece,"  responded  Paine.  ^'And  this?  and 
this?"  "lam."  "You  may  retire."  The  Congress 
tried  to  dismiss  him.  It  was  a  tie  vote.  The  next 
day,  the  8th  of  January,  1779,  Mr.  Paine  wrote  to 
Congress  as  follows ;  "  As  I  can  not  consistently  with 
my  character  as  a  freeman,  submit  to  be  censured  un- 
heard, therefore  to  preserve  that  cliaracter  and  main- 
tain that  right,  I  think  it  my  duty  to  resign  the  office 
of  secretary  of  the  committee  for  foreign  affairs,  and 
I  do  hereby  resign  the  same." 

He  now  opens  up  on  Silas  Deaue  a  terrible  battery  of 
invective,  and  exposed  the  fraud  so  completely,  that 
ConoTCSS  became  ashamed  of  supporting  him,  and  Mr. 
Deane  absconded  to  France,  and  afterward  died  in  Eng- 
land, it  is  said,  of  remorse,  after  taking  poison.     But 


302  GRAND  OUTLINES  OF 

Mr.  Paine  became  the  "  victim  of  his  integrity/'  to  save 
the  money  of  the  government,  which  the  soldiers  were 
sorely  in  need  of,  and  to  bravely  push  forward  the 
"  business  of  a  world  J' 

But,  during  this  time,  he  has  also  written  Nos.  II, 
III,  and  IV  of  The  Crisis.  No.  II  is  to  Lord  Howe, 
dated  January  13,  1777.  This  is  one  of  his  finest 
pieces  of  satire,  which  is  also  filled  with  sentiments  of 
patriotism,  courage,  and  hop^.  These  periodical  pro- 
ductions are  among  his  best  efforts,  and  they  were  con- 
tinued till  the  war  ended.  There  are  sixteen  in  all. 
They  were  written  to  produce  patriotism  in  the  hearts 
of  the  people.  No.  VIII,  I  think,  is  one  of  the  finest 
productions  I  ever  read.  It  is  addressed  to  the  })eople 
of  England,  and  is  the  sad  wailing  of  Junius. 

In  December  of  1778,  he  puts  forth  the  proposition 
to  apply  steam  to  navigation — the  first  thought  of  the 
kind  in  America,  which  came  in  advance  of  the  fact 
about  eight  years,  and  in  this  America  was  the  first  in 
the  world. 

Mr.  Paine  offers,  at  this  time,  to  be  one  of  a  party 
of  four  or  five  to  set  fire  to  the  British  fleet  in  the  Del- 
aware.    But  the  three  men  like  him  can  not  be  found. 

In  1779  he  is  appointed  clerk  of  the  Pennsylvania 
Assembly. 

In  1780  he  is  dissuaded  and  prevented  from  going  to 
England  to  get  out,  in  secret,  a  publication  to  stir  up 
revolution  there.  The  fates  will  not  permit  him  to  trj^ 
Junius  over  again.     It  is  as  well. 

But  the  spring  of  this  year  was  marked  with  an  ac- 
cumulation of  misfortunea  to  our  army.  The  defense 
of  Charleston  had  failed,  and,  besides  this,  there  was  nc 


THOMAS  PAINE' 8  LIFE.  303 

money  to  pay  the  soldiers.  A  general  gloom  rested  on 
the  whole  country,  patriotism  was  at  its  ebb,  and  peti- 
tions were  abundant  to  exempt  the  people  from  paying 
taxes.  Government  had  neither  money  nor  credit,  and 
things  had  come  to  a  ^^  dead  lock.'^  Washington  wrote 
to  the  Assembly  of  Pennsylvania.  The  doors  were  shut, 
and  it  foil  to  Thomas  Paine,  the  clerk,  to  read  the 
letter. 

"In  this  letter  the  naked  truth  of  things  was  un- 
folded. Among  other  informations,  the  general  said 
that,  notwithstanding  his  confidence  in  the  attachment 
of  the  army  to  the  cause  of  the  country,  the  distresses 
of  it,  from  the  want  of  every  necessary  which  men 
could  be  destitute  of,  had^arisen  to  such  a  pitch  that 
the  appearances  of  mutiny  and  discontent  were  so 
strongly  marked  on  the  countenances  of  the  army,  that 
he  dreaded  the  event  of  every  hour." 

After  the  letter  was  read,  a  despairing  silence  per- 
vaded the  hall.  Nobody  spoke  for  a  considerable  time. 
At  last  a  member  of  much  fortitude  arose  and  said: 
"If  the  account  in  that  letter  is  a  true  state  of  things, 
and  we  are  in  the  situation  there  represented,  it  appears 
to  me  in  vain  to  contend  the  matter  any  longer.  We 
may  as  well  give  up  the  matter  first  as  last."  Another 
man  arose  and  said :  "  Well,  well,  do  n't  let  the  bouse 
despair;  if  things  are  not  so  well  as  we  wish,  we  must 
endeavor  to  make  them  better,"  and  then  moved  an 
adjournment. 

What  shall  now  be  done?  Where  is  the  god  of  bat- 
tle, that  he  has  deserted  America?  When  all  others 
fail,  both  in  council  and  in  war,  who  shall  be  able  to 
cheer  the  heart  and  lift  up  the  head  of  the  nation?     We 


304  GRAND  O  UTLINES  OF 

shall  see.  Thomas  Paine  draws  his  salary;  he  writes  a 
stirring  appeal  for  a  private  subscription;  heads  it  with 
five  hundred  dollars,  "his  mite,  and  will  increase  it  as 
far  as  the  last  ability  will  enable  him  to  go.''  This 
subscription  is  to  be  a  donation  to  carry  on  the  war. 
In  nine  days  the  subscription  "amounts  to  four  hun- 
dred pounds  hard  money,  and  one  hundred  and  one 
thousand  three  hundred  and  sixty  pounds  continental." 
The  subscribers  now  meet  and  form  a  bank,  with  a 
capital  basis  of  three  hundred  thousand  pounds,  real 
money,  for  the  purpose  of  supplying  the  army;  and  the 
country  is  once  more  saved  by  the  man  who  has  on  his 
hands  "  the  business  of  a  worldJ^ 

It  is  now  the  university  ot  Pennsylvania  makes  itself 
honorable  and  famous  by  conferring  on  Thomas  Paine 
the  degree  of  Master  of  Arts.  It  is  in  1780  this  is 
done,  and  on  the  Fourth  of  July. 

But  more  money  must  be  had.  A  continental  dollar 
is  worth  about  one  cent.  "Hard  money  must  be  had," 
says  Thomas  Paine.  But  how  shall  it  be  obtaincil? 
By  an  appeal  to  the  king  of  France.  Paine  now 
sets  about  the  work.  It  is  near  the  close  of  the  year 
1780.  He  takes  up  the  pen  and  undisguised ly  states 
the  true  case  of  the  nation,  and  requests  that  France, 
either  as  a  subsidy  or  a  loan,  will  supply  the  United 
States  with  a  million  sterling,  and  continue  that  supply 
annually  during  the  war.  This  letter  was  addressed 
to  Count  Vergennes,  the  French  minister  of  foreign 
affairs.  Paine,  as  soon  as  he  had  written  it,  showed  it 
to  M.  Marbois,  secretary  to  the  French  minister.  His 
reply  was  :  "  A  n>illion  sent  out  of  a  nation  exhausts 
it  more  than  ten  millions  spent  in  it."     But  nothing 


THOMAS  PAINE' IS  LIFE.  305 

daunted  he  then  took  it  to  Ralj)h  Isard,  member  of 
Congress  from  Soutli  Carolina.  Isard  said  :  "  We  will 
try  and  do  something  about  it  in  Congress/'  Congress 
flivored  the  letter,  and  it  was  thus  made  a  memorial. 
But  who  shall  now  take  it  to  France,  and  in  jDcrson 
represent  the  situation  and  demand  assistance,  as  set 
forth  in  this  letter?  Paine  had  his  eye  on  tlie  man 
when  he  went  to  the  member  from  South  Carolina  with 
his  letter.  It  was  one  of  this  state's  noblest  sons,  Col. 
John  Laurens,  aid  to  Washington  ;  for  Paine  loved  the 
Laurenses,  both  father  and  son.  Through  Washington 
this  son  was  named  as  agent.  But  he  said:  "Xo, 
appoint  Colonel  Hamilton.''  Congress  refused.  Now- 
young  Laurens  states  his  case  to  Paine.  He  said  lie 
was  acquainted  with  the  military  difficulties,  but  not 
at  all  acquainted  with  political  affairs,  nor  with  the 
resources  of  the  country,  ^^  but  if  you  will  go  with  me, 
I  will  accejit."  Of  course  Paine  will  go,  and  that,  too, 
witliout  pay,  never  expecting  a  cent  for  it.  Paine  had 
planned  his  work  well,  he  has  got  his  man,  the  bravest 
heart  of  the  land,  and  we  shall  now  see  the  boldest  act 
of  diplomacy  on  record.  For  five  weeks  Paine  had 
been  about  this  work,  and  about  the  first  of  February, 
1781,  they  sail  for  France.  As  soon  as  they  reach 
Paris,  Laurens  promptly  reports  his  arrival  and  busi- 
ness to  Vergennes.  It  is  in  vain.  "  The  formalities 
of  court  and  the  self-complaisancy  of  the  minister,  who 
Avould  not  be  hurried,  baffled  him  for  more  than  two 
months."  But  this  young  son  of  war  has  a  spirit  to 
dare  and  a  tutor  to  direct — who  knows  from  long 
experience  the  stuff  kings  are  made  of.  He  will 
not  be  trifled  with   by  subordinates;   he  will   appeal 


306  OBAND  OUTLINES  OF 

directly  to  the  king.  He  declares  this  to  the  minister, 
who  responds,  *^  I  am  confounded  with  your  audacity." 
This  is  more  than  Franklin  would  dare,  who  is  there 
at  court.  There  comes  "a  public  lever."  Louis  XVI 
is  there,  and  so  is  young  Laurens,  in  uniform,  his 
sword  at  his  side.  Now  act  well  thy  part,  a  nation's 
life  dwells  in  thy  words.  He  is  presented  to  the  king, 
who  only  expects  the  passing  formalities  of  an  intro- 
duction. But  Laurens  speaks:  ^'I  am  just  from  the 
army  of  Washington.  I  know  well  its  condition,  it  is 
fully  set  forth  in  this  memorial ;"  and  then  touching 
his  sword,  he  adds,  with  animation,  "Unless  speedy 
succor  is  sent  to  my  country,  the  weapon  I  now  wear 
at  my  side  as  the  ally  of  your  majesty,  might  be  drawn 
as  the  subject  of  Great  Britain  against  you  and  France." 
The  king  was  struck  dumb ;  but  soon  rallied  himself 
and  replied  briefly,  but  favorably.  He  took  the 
memorial,  the  money  was  granted,  and  Paine  accom- 
panied Laurens  home  with  $2,500,000  in  silver.  The 
army  is  paid,  fed,  and  clothed ;  Yorktown  is  attacked 
upon  the  strength  of  it ;  Cornwallis  surrenders,  and  the 
British  power  is  broken  in  this  country  forever,  through 
those  great  causes  put  in  motion  and  faithfully  sustained 
by  the  man  who  had  on  his  hands  "the  business  OP 
A  WORLD." 

The  great  work  of  Thomas  Paine  is  now  nearly 
done  in  America,  but  mighty  things  are  yet  to  be 
done  for  the  world.  The  next  year  he  writes  his  famous 
letter  to  the  Abbe  Raynal,  and  the  Crisis,  which  guides 
the  nation  to  honor.  A  few  years  of  rest,  in  wliich 
he  writes  his  Dissertation  on  Government,  and  other 
pieces  J  is  elected  a  member  of  the  Philosophical  Society, 


THOMAS  PAINMS  LIFE.  307 

« 

receives  the  hospitalities  of  Washiugton,  and  three 
thousand  dollars  from  Congress  for  his  ten  years  services 
in  America,  and  he  sails  for  France  where  he  sees  the 
fires  of  revolution  beginning  to  kindle. 

But  he  has  taken  care  to  provide  wisdom  for  his 
country  before  he  quits  her  shores.  His  far-reaching 
eye  sees  that  a  Federal  Constitution  will  have  to  be 
formed  for  the  states,  and  in  1786  he  is  careful  to  in- 
corporate into  his  Dissertation  on  Government  a  Dec- 
laration of  Rights.  In  this  Declaration  of  Rights 
lies  the  foundation  of  the  republic,  and  although  not 
prefixed  to  the  Federal  Constitution  at  the  time  it  was 
formed  and  adopted,  a  complete  synopsis  of  it  was 
afterward  added  as  the  ten  first  amendments  thereto. 
Franklin  has  also  come  home  to  labor*  awhile,  now 
more  than  eighty  years  old ;  and  being  chosen  a  dele- 
gate to  the  Federal  Convention,  Mr.  Paine  sailed  for 
France  the  16th  of  April,  1787,  just  a  month  before 
it  convened.  He  has  finished  his  work  in  America. 
This  work  he  did  faithfully  and  well.  He  is  now 
fifty  years  old,  and  there  are  ten  years  of  revolution- 
ary work,  and  twenty-two  of  life  before  him  yet. 

He  took  with  him  to  Paris  the  model  of  an  iron 
bridge.  He  submits  it  to  the  Academy  of  Sciences. 
It  is  pronounced  a  success,  if  theory  can  be  sustained 
by  mathematical  demonstration.  He  proposes  an  iron 
arch  with  a  span  of  four  hundred  and  eighty  ^eet 
But  theory  must  be  tested,  and  the  next  year  he  builds 
his  bridge  in  an  open  field  near  Paddington,  in  Eng- 
land. Experiment  said  it  was  a  success,  but  he  got 
into  gaol  for  debt  on  ac(?ount  of  it.  The  bridge  now 
spans  the  river  Wear,  at  Sunderland.  This  iron  arch 
20 


308  GRAND  OUTLINES  OF 

• 
bridge  was  the  first  in  the  world.     The  principles  are 
now   seen    in    thousands   of  bridges   in    Europe   and 
America;  and  if  they  could  speak,  each  one  would  say: 
"  I  was  born  from  the  brain  of  Thomas  Paine." 

Two  American  merchants  assist  hira  to  pay  his 
debts,  and  he  gets  out  of  an  English  gaol  in  time  to  go 
over  to  France  to  witness  the  taking  of  the  Bastile,  on 
the  14th  of  July,  1789.  That  'Miigh  altar  and  castle 
of  despotism''  fell  at  the  bidding  of  those  ro])ublican 
principles  which  he  had  dedicated  his  life  to  teacli  and 
maintain.  It  was  a  most  fitting  and  grand  event 
when  Lafayette  gave  to  Thomas  Paine  the  key  to  the 
Bastile  to  present  to  Washington.  It  is  now  the  prop- 
erty of  this  nation. 

Mr.  Burke?  the  next  year  writes  his  "Reflections" 
on  the  French  Revolution,  and  Mr.  Paine  returns  in 
November,  1790,  to  answer  the  publication.  In 
March,  the  first  part  of  "  The  Rights  of  Man  "  ap- 
peared for  this  purpose.  It  was  dedicated  to  Washing- 
ton. In  another  year  the  second  part  apix^ared, 
dedicated  to  Lafayette.  A  hundred  thousand  copies 
of  this  work  went  into  the  hands  of  the  people.  It 
was  translated  into  all  the  European  languages,  and 
was  read  by  the  poor  and  the  rich,  the  high  and  the 
low  ;  it  became  the  companion  alike  of  the  vassal  and 
his  lord.  In  this  he  says :  "The  peer  is  exalted  into 
the  man.  Titles  are  but  nicknames,  and  every  nick- 
name is  a  title.  The  thing  is  perfectly  harndess  in 
itself,  but  it  marks  a  sort  of  foppery  in  the 
human  character  which  degrades  it,  It  talks  about 
its  fine  ribbon  like  a  girl,  and  shows  its  garter  like  a 
child.     A  certain   writer  of  antiquity  says,  *  When  I 


THOMAS  PAINE'S  LIFE.  309 

was  a  child  I  thought  as  a  cliild,  but  when  I  became 
a  man  I  put  away  childish  things/  .  .  The  .insig- 
nificance of  a  senseless  word  like  duke,  count,  or  earl, 
has  ceased  to  please,  and  as  they  outgrew  the  rickets, 
have  despised  the  rattle.  The  genuine  mind  of  man, 
thirsting  for  its  native  home  society,  contemns  the  gew- 
gaws that  separate  him  from  it.  Titles  are  like  circles 
drawn  by  the  magician's  wand  to  contract  the  sphere 
of  man's  felicity.  He  lives  immured  within  the  bastile 
of  a  word,  and  surveys  at  a  distance  the  envied  life  of 
man.''  Aristocracy  "is  a  law  against  every  law  of 
nature,  and  nature  herself  calls  for  its  destruction. 
Establish  family  justice  and  aristocracy  falls.  By  the 
aristocratical  law  of  primogenitureship,  in  a  family 
of  six  children  five  are  exposed.  Aristocracy  has 
never  but  one  child.  The  rest  are  begotten  to  be  de- 
voured. They  are  thrown  to  the  cannibal  for  prey, 
and  the  natural  parent  prepares  the  unnatural  repast." 
.  .  .  "  By  nature  they  are  children,  and  by  mar- 
riage they  are  heirs,  but  by  aristocracy  they  are  bas- 
tards and  orphans."  .       . 

"In  taking  up  this  subject,"  he  says,  "  I  seek  no 
recompense;  I  fear  no  consequences.  Fortified  with 
that  proud  integrity,  that  disdain  to  triumph  or  to 
yield,  I  will  advocate  the  rights-of  man."  .  .  .  . 
"  Knowing  my  own  heart,  and  feeling  myself,  as  I  now 
do,  superior  to  all  the  skirmish  of  party,  the  inveteracy 
of  interested  or  mistaken  opponents,  I  answer  not  to 
falsehood  or  abuse."  .  .  .  "Independence  is  my 
happiness,  and  I  view  things  as  they  are,  without  re- 
gard to  place  or  person.  My  country  is  the  world,  and 
my  religion  is  to  do  good." 


310  GRAND  OUTLINES  OF 

Mr.  Paine  is  now  doing  openly  and  boldly  the  work 
which  Junius  tried  to  do  with  less  success.  The  same 
pen  has  now  twenty  years  more  experience;  it  has 
added  wisdom,  but  lost  a  trifle  of  its  vivacity ;  yet  it 
has  lost  none  of  its  terrible  satire.  Never  did  Junius 
use  secretly  such  severe  language  toward  the  king  as 
Mr.  Paine  now  openly  writes.  Of  the  crown,  he  says : 
''  It  signifies  a  nominal  office  of  a  million  a  year,  the 
business  of  which  consists  in  receiving  the  money. 
Whether  the  person  be  wise  or  foolish,  sane  or  insane, 
a  native  or  a  foreigner,  matters  not.  The  hazard  to 
which  this  office  is  exposed  in  all  countries,  is  not  from 
any  thing  that  can  happen  to  the  man,  but  from  what 
may  happen  to  the  nation ;  the  danger  of  its  coming  to 
its  senses.  .  .  .  When  we  speak  of  the  Crown  now 
it  means  nothing;  it  signifies  neither  a  judge  nor 
a  general;  besides  which  it  is  the  laws  that  govern,  and 
not  the  man." 

"  It  is  time  that  nations  should  be  rational,  and  i;ot 
governed  like  animals,  for  the  pleasure  of  |iheir  riders. 
To  read  the  history  of  kings,  a  man  would  be  almost 
inclined  to  suppose  that  government  consisted  in  stag 
hunting,  and  that  every  nation  paid  a  million  a  year  to 
the  huntsman.  Man  ought  to  have  pride  or  shame 
enough  to  blush  at  beiijg  thus  imposed  upon,  and  when 
he  feels  his  proper  character  he  will.  ...  It  has 
cost  England  almost  seventy  millions  sterling  to  main- 
tain a  family  imported  from  abroad,  of  very  inferior 
capacity  to  thousands  in  the  nation.  No  wonder  that 
jails  are  crowded,  and  taxes  and  poor-rates  increased. 
Under  such  systems  nothing  is  to  be  looked  for  but 
what  has  already  happened;  and,  as  to  reformation, 


THOMAS  PAINE'S  LIFE.  3X1 

whenever  it  comes,  it  must  be  from  the  nation,  and  not 
from  the  government/^ 

In  the  above  how  one  is  reminded  of  Junius,  when 
he  says :  "  The  original  fault  is  in  the  government,*' 
and  "  there  are  many  things  which  we  ought  to  affirm 
can  not  be  done  by  king,  lords,  and  commons."  "  The 
ruin  or  prosperity  of  a  state  depends  on  the  adminis- 
tration of  its  government/*  "  Behold  a  nation  over- 
whelmed with  debt,  her  revenues  wasted,  her  trade  de- 
clining/* That  ^^a  reasonable  man  can  expect  no 
remedy  but  poison,  no  relief  but  death."  ^'  And  that 
if  an  honest  man  were  permitted  to  approach  a  king, 
it  would  be  matter  of  curious  speculation  how  he  would 
be  received,"  if  the  king  liimself  had  "  spirit  enough 
to  bid  him  speak  freely,  and  understanding  enough  to 
listen  to  him  with  attention.** 

For  the  publication  of  this  work  in  England  many 
men  were  fined  and  imprisoned.  Mr.  Paine  himself 
was  tried  and  convicted,  but  having  been  elected  a  rep- 
resentative to  the  National  Assembly  of  France,  by  the 
Department  of  Calais,  he  left  England  in  September, 
1792,  and  being  afterward  outlawed,  never  set  foot  on 
her  soil  again.  Had  it  not  been  for  this  election  to  the 
National  Assembly,  he  would  have  remained  to  contest 
in  an  English  court  the  principles  he  had  proclaimed. 
Twenty  minutes  after  he  left  her  shores  forever,  an  or- 
der arrived  at  Dover,  from  which  place  he  sailed,  for 
his  detention,  but  it  was  too  late;  there  is  yet  a 
sublime  deed  to  be  done. 

At  Calais,  France  embraced  him,  and  a  daughter  of 
the  New  Republic  placed  in  his  hat  the  national  cock- 
ade.    Mr.  Paine  is  now  entering  the  dark  days  of  his 

\ 


312  GRAND  OUTLINES  OF 

life.  With  what  fortitude  and  manliness  he  shall  pass 
through  them  we  shall  see.  He  takes  his  seat  in  the 
National  Assembly.  In  this  he  addresses  the  people 
of  France,  and  says;  ^^I  come  not  to  enjoy  repose.  I 
commence  my  citizenship  in  the  stormy  hour  of  diffi- 
culties. Convinced  that  the  cause  of  France  is  the 
CAUSE  OF  ALL  MANKIND,  and  that  liberty  can  not  be 
purchased  by  a  wish,  I  gladly  share  with  you  the  dan- 
gers and  lionors  necessary  to  success Let  us 

now  look  calmly  and  confidently  forward,  and  success 
is  certain.  It  is  no  longer  the  paltry  cause  of  kings, 
or  of  this  or  that  individual,  that  calls  France  and  her 
armies  into  action.  It  is  the  great  cause  of  all.  It 
is  the  establishment  of  a  new  era  tliat  shall  blot  despot- 
ism from  the  earth,  and  fix,  on  the  lasting  principles 
of  peace  and  citizenship  the  great  republic  of  man." 

France  is  declared  a  republic,  and  Mr.  Paine  is  one 
of  nine  men  to  draft  a  new  constitution.  This  work  is 
done.  In  the  meantime,  charges  are  preferred  against 
the  king,  and  Louis  XVI  is  brought  to  trial.  ^Ir. 
Paine  voted  for  the  trial.  The  king  is  found  guilty, 
and  condemned  to  die.  But  he  has  now  a  friend  in 
Thomas  Paine.  He  speaks  against  the  death  penalty, 
and  says: 

"Citizen  President:  My  hatred  and  abhorrence 
of  monarchy  are  sufficiently  known ;  they  originate  in 
principles  of  reason  and  conviction,  nor,  except  with 
life,  can  they  ever  be  extir})ated;  but  my  conn)assion 
for  the  unfortunate,  whether  friend  or  enemy,  is  equally 
lively  and  sincere."  Ho  then  reviews  the  causes  which 
brought  him  to  trial,  and  pictures  the  deplorable  condi- 
tion   he    is    in — condemns   the  constituent  assembly, 

/ 


THOMAS  PAINE' S  LIFn,  313 

rather  than  the  unfortunate  prisoner,  and  then  asks: 
*'  What  shall  be  done  with  this  man?^^  He  has  now 
taken  his  own  life  in  his  hands,  when  he  proffers  to  the 
King  of  France  an  asylum  in  America.  Besides,  he 
has  a  duty  to  perform  for  the  United  States,  which  now 
he  offers  his  own  life  to  fulfill.  He  has  not  forgotten 
the  great  feat  of  young  Laurens,  when  he  touched  his 
sword  in  presence  of  this  same  king,  demanding  that 
aid  which  made  his  country  free  and  independent,  and 
which  was  granted.  He  therefore  says :  "  It  is  to 
France  alone,  I  know,  that  the  United  States  of  Amer- 
ica owe  that  support  which  enabled  them  to  shake  off 
the  unjust  and  tyrannical  yoke  of  Britain.  The  ardor 
and  zeal  w^iich  she  displayed  to  provide  men  and 
money,  were  the  natural  consequence  of  a  thirst  for  lib- 
erty. But  as  the  nation  at  that  time,  restrained  by  the 
shackles  of  her  own  government,  could  only  act  by 
means  of  a  monarchical  organ,  this  organ,  whatever  in 
other  respects  the  object  might  be,  certainly  performed 
a  good,  a  great  action.  Let,  then,  these  United  States 
be  the  safeguard  and  asylum  of  Louis  Capet." 

Marat  cries  out :  ^*  Paine  is  a  Quaker,'^  and  the  benev- 
olence of  this  good  man  is  whelmed  over  by  the  fierce 
and  bloody  sentiment  of  revenge.  This  is  one  of  the 
sublime  deeds  which  give  us  faith  in  man,  but  which 
appear  at  such  wide  intervals  that  they  mark  eras  in 
tlie  workFs  history.  I  know  of  but  one  other  which 
rises  to  such  touching  sublimity — it  is  Socrates,  at  the 
head  of  the  Athenian  Senate,  refusing  to  put  the  vote 
demanded  by  the  laws,  religion,  and  united  voice  of  his 
country,  whicli  would  condemn  to  death  the  admirals 
who  were  unable  to  bury  the  dead  that  had  been  slain 


314  GRAND  OUTLINES  OF 

in  battle.  Both  offered  their  lives  that  others  might 
live,  rather  than  be  themselves  unjust. 

Mr.  Paine,  by  this  effort  to  save  the  king's  life,  lost 
his  influence  in  the-  assembly,  and  he  became  afterward 
a  silent  member,  and,  in  the  minds  of  many,  set  apart 
to  die.  Foreigners  are  now  expelled  from  the  conven- 
tion, and  an  order  having  passed  that  all  persons  born 
in  England,  and  residing  in  France,  should  be  impris- 
oned, he  Avas,  by  order  of  Robespierre,  arrested,  and 
thrown  into  the  Luxembourg.  Of  his  narrow  escapes, 
Mr.  Paine  says: 

"  I  was  one  of  the  nine  members  that  composed  the 
first  committee  of  constitution.  Six  of  them  have  been 
destroyed.  Syoyes  and  myself  have  survived — he  by 
bending  with  the  times,  and  I  by  not  bending.  The 
other  survivor  joined  Robespierre,  and  signed  with  him 
the  warrant  of  my  arrostation.  After  the  fiill  of 
Robespierre,  he  was  seized  and  imprisoned,  in  his  turn, 
and  sentenced  to  transportation.  He  has  since  apolo- 
gized to  me  for  having  signed  the  warrant,  by  saying 
he  felt  himself  in  danger,  and  was  obliged  to  do  it. 

"  Herault  Sechelles,  an  acquaintance  of  Mr.  Jefferson, 
and  a  good  j^atriot,  was  my  suppliant  as  member  of  the 
committee  of  constitution — that  is,  he  was  to  su])ply  my 
place,  if  I  had  not  accepted  or  had  resigned,  being 
next  in  number  of  votes  to  me.  He  was  imprisoned  in 
the  Luxembourg  with  me,  was  taken  to  the  tribunal 
and  the  guillotine,  and  I,  his  principal,  was  left. 

**  There  were  but  two  foreigners  in  the  convention — 
Anaeharsis  Cloots  and  myself  We  were  both  put  out 
of  the  convention  by  the  same  vote,  arrested  by  the  same 
order,  and  carried  to  prison  together  the  same  night. 


THOMAS  PAINE 'S  LIFE,  315 

He  was  taken  to  the  guillotine,  and  I  was  again  left. 
Joel  Barlow  was  with  us  when  we  went  to  prison. 

"  Joseph  Lebon,  one  of  the  vilest  characters  that  ever 
existed,  and  who  made  the  streets  of  Arras  run  with 
blood,  was  my  suppliant  as  member  of  the  convention 
for  the  department  of  the  Pays  de  Calais.  When  I  was 
put  out  of  the  convention,  he  came  and  took  my  place ; 
when  I  was  liberated  from  prison,  and  voted  again  into 
the  convention,  he  was  sent  into  the  same  prison,  and 
took  my  place  there ;  and  he  went  to  the  guillotine  in- 
stead of  me.  He  supplied  my  place  all  the  way  through. 
One  hundred  and  sixty  eight  persons  were  taken  out  of 
the  Luxembourg  in  one  night,  and  one  hundred  and 
sixty  of  them  guillotined  the  next  day,  of  which  I  know 
I  was  to  have  been  one;  and  the  manner  I  escaped  that 
fate  is  curious,  and  has  all  the  appearance  of  accident. 
When  persons  by  scores  and  hundreds  were  to  be  taken 
out  of  prison  for  the  guillotine,  it  was  always  done  in 
the  night,  and  those  who  performed  that  office  had  a 
private  mark,  or  signal,  by  which  they  knew  what  rooms 
to  go  to,  and  what  number  to  take.  We  were  four,  and 
the  door  of  our  room  was  marked,  unobserved  by  us, 
with  that  number,  in  chalk;  but  it  happened,  if  hap- 
pening is  a  proper  word,  that  the  mark  was  put  on 
when  the  door  was  open  and  flat  against  the  wall,  and 
thereby  came  on  the  inside  when  we  shut  it  at  night, 
and  the  destroying  angel  passed  by  it.  A  few  days  after 
this  Robespierre  fell,  and  the  American  embassador  ar- 
rived and  reclaimed  me,  and  invited  me  to  his  house. 

^'  During  the  w^hole  of  my  imprisonment,  prior  to  the 
fall  of  Robespierre,  there  was  no  time  when  I  could 
tliink  my  life  worth  twenty-four  hours,  and  my  mind 


316  OltAND  OUTLINED  OF 

was  made  up  to  meet  its  fate.  The  Americans  in  Paris 
went  in  a  body  to  the  convention  to  reclaim  me,  but 
without  success.  There  was  no  party  among  them  with 
res})ect  to  me.  My  only  hope  then  rested  on  the  gov- 
ernment of  America,  that  it  would  remember  me.  But 
the  icy  heart  of  ingratitude,  in  whatever  man  it  may  be 
placed,  has  neither  feeling  nor  sense  of  honor.  The  let- 
ter of  Mr.  Jefferson  has  served  to  wipe  away  the  re- 
proach, and  has  done  justice  to  the  mass  of  the  people 
of  America. 

"About  two  months  before  this  event,  I  was  seized 
with  a  fever  that,  in  its  progress,  had  every  symptom 
of  becoming  mortal.  ...  I  have  some  reason  to 
believe,  because  I  can  not  discover  any  other  cause,  that 
this  illness  preserved  me  in  existence." 

In  these  hours  of  death,  and  when  he  expects  to  be 
beheaded  at  any  moment,  he  is  writing  his  Age  of 
Reason.  The  first  part  he  completed  just  before  going 
to  prison;  the  second  j)nrt  he  studios  upon,  and  partly 
writes,  while  in  prison,  and  publishes  it  a  few  months 
after  his  release. 

This  work  was  planned  years  before  it  apj^eared,  and 
its  coni])letion  was  deferred  till  nenr  the  close  of  his  life, 
that  the  purity  of  his  motives  might  not  be  impeached. 
It  was  written  at  that  time,  too,  before  he  had  intended 
it,  because  he  expected  soon  to  be  put  to  deatli,  and  lest, 
in  "the  gentu'al  shipwreck  of  sui)erstition,  of  false  sys- 
tems of  government,  and  false  theology,  tlie  people  lose 
sight  of  morality,  of  humanity,  and  of  the  theology  that 
is  true."  It  was  written  to  combat  su]>erstition,  fanati- 
cism, and  atheism  on  the  one  hand,  and  to  defend  re- 
ligion, morality,  and  deism  on  the  other.    It  is  the  good 


THOMAS  PAINE' 8  LIFE.  %\*J 

and  religious  work  of  a  good  and  religious  man.  The 
work  it  was  designed  to  accomplish  is  not  yet  done,  but 
it  is  well  begun.  As  the  world  grows  wiser  it  will  be 
valued  the  more  highly,  and  the  more  it  is  read  the  bet- 
ter will  people  become. 

Had  Mr.  Paine  died  at  this  time,  his  life's  work 
would  have  been  fulfilled,  and  the  tranquillity  of  his 
life  would  not  have  been  disturbed  by  the  curses  of  the 
whole  order  of  the  priesthood.  But  there  are  fourteen 
years  of  life  before  him  yet,  in  which  he  is  maligned, 
vilified,  slandered,  and  publicly  and  privately  insulted. 

I  will  briefly  sum  them  up.  Seven  of  these  years  he 
spends  in  France.  He  writes  his  essays  "On  the 
English  System  of  Finance,''  "  Aggrarian  Justice,"  and 
the  '^Letter  to  General  Washington;"  also,  one  '^To 
the  People  and  Armies  of  France."  It  seems  he  be- 
came attached  to  Napoleon,  for  the  project  of  the  gun- 
boat invasion  of  England  is  started,  and  should  it  suc- 
ceed, Mr.  Paine  is  to  give  England  a  more  liberal 
government.  In  1802,  he  came  to  America,  and  the 
folly  of  gun-boats  also  enters  into  Jefferson's  adminis- 
tration. These  seven  years  of  life  in  America  are  years 
of  trouble  and  grief  Jefferson,  the  great  Democratic 
partisan,  secures  his  services  to  write  for  his  party ; 
but  he  had  never  been  a  partisan,  he  had  stood  on 
higher  ground,  he  had  labored  for  all  mankind,  and  the 
work,  which  ill  became  him,  served  only  to  aggravate 
his  own  life.  We  can  see  a  mental  change  coming 
over  the  old  man ;'  the  reason  is  yet  strong,  but  the 
temper  is  irritable;  he  grows  peevish  and  broods  over 
his  wrongs.  "  I  ought  not  to  have  an  enemy  in 
America,"  he  said.     But  the  generation  of  people  he 


318  ORAND  OUTLINES  OF 

now  lived  among,  near  the  close  of  his  life,  were  not 
yet  born  "in  the  times  that  tried  men's  souls,"  and 
they  knew  him  not.  He  was  the  friend  of  Jefferson, 
and  Jefferson  had  bitter  enemies,  who  said  "they  both 
ought  to  dangle  from  the  same  gallows.'^ 

He  had  been  paid  but  little  for  his  revolutionary 
services,  and  he  now  felt  the  ingratitude  of  the  old 
Congress,  which  had  treated  him  badly,  and  the  new 
one,  which  could  not  be  bothered  with  him.  Thus  his 
miseries  multiply.  "After  so  many  years  of  service, 
my  heart  grows  cold  toward  America,"  he  writes,  a 
year  before  his  death,  to  the  Speaker  of  the  House  of 
Representatives.  Jefferson  ought  to  have  kept  the  old 
man  aloof  from  politics,  instead  of  thrusting  him  into 
his  party  broils,  and  bringing  down  on  his  head  the 
whole  host  of  his  own  personal  enemies.  Paine  had 
enemies  enough  of  his  own  without  these.  But  great 
ideas  and  generous  affections,  it  seems,  Jefferson  never 
had.  Now,  in  his  old  age,  the  great  apostle  of  liberty 
is  deserted  by  many  he  had  labored  to  befriend,  and, 
though  he  does  not  meet  death  at  the  hands  of  his  en- 
emies, they  have  venom  enough  in  their  hearts  to  slay 
him. 

It  is  sad  to  think  that  his  last  hours  were  embittered 
for  the  want  of  a  friend.  Washington  had  long  be- 
fore forgotten  him  while  a  prisoner  in  the  Luxembourg. 
Samuel  Adams  had  condemned  him.  John  Adams 
has  it  in  his  heart  to  blast  his  memory,  and  four  years 
after  he  is  dead  writes  to  Jefferson,  "  Joel  Barlow  was 
about  to  record  Tom  Paine  as  the  great  author  of  the 
American  Revolution.  If  he  was,  I  desire  that  my 
name  may  be  blotted  out   forever  from   its  record.*' 


THOMAS  PAINS' S  LIFE.  31 9 

This  came  from  the  man  who  twice  deserted  his  post 
in  the  trying  hour  of  his  country ;  once  for  four  mouths 
when  at  the  head  of  the  war  committee,  and  once  for 
seven  months  when  president  of  the  nation.  It  came 
from  the  man  who  said:  Jefferson  had  stolen  his 
ideas  from  him  to  put  into  the  Declaration  of  Inde- 
pendence. "Blotted  out,"  No!  John  Adams,  your 
name  will  live  forever  on  the  records  of  your  country. 
You  were  sometimes  a  great  man.  But  by  the  side  of 
Thomas  Paine,  on  the  records  of  your  country,  you 
stand  thus : 

History, 

John  Adams,  Member  Thomas  Paine,  the  Ju- 
of  Congress,  the  Colossus  nius  of  England,  author 
of  debate,  signer  of  the  of  Common  Sense  and  the 
Declaration  of  Indepen-  Declaration  of  Independ- 
dence,  famous  in  the  world,  ence,  whose  fame  is  un- 
chief  of  the  war  com-  known,  on  whom  no  trust 
mittee,  on  whom  great  was  imposed  by  the  pub- 
trusts  were  imposed,  in  lie,  undertakes  the  business 
whom  great  faith  was  had,  of  a  world ;  enlists  in  the 
in  the  first  trying  crisis  of  army  of  Washington,  and 
the  new  nation  DESERT-  in  the  first  trying  crisis  of 
ED  HER.  Brave  in  his  thenewnation,  by  theinspi- 
home  by  the  sea.  ration  of  his  pen,  SAVED 

HER.     Bravest  when  stout 

hearts  fail, 

Franklin,  the  firm  friend,  has  been  dead  these  nine- 
teen years,  and  many  more  of  the  old  first  friends  had 
gone  the  same  way.  His  mind  now  reverts  to  his 
home  in  England,  and  the  religion  of  his  father  haunts 
his  affections.  He  asks  to  be  buried  in  the  Quaker 
burying-ground,  and  is  refused,  lest  this  act  of  decency 


320  GBAND  OUTLINES  OF 

should  offend  the  sanctified  followers  of  Fox.  It  is  as 
well.  The  old  man's  will  records,  that  if  this  be  not 
granted  him  on  account  of  his  father's  religion,  he  was 
to  be  buried  on  his  own  farm  at  New  Rochelle.  On 
the  8th  of  June,  1809,  he  took  his  final  leave  of  the 
world.  "I  have  lived,"  said  he,  "an  honest  and  use- 
ful life  to  mankind ;  my  time  has  been  spent  in  doing 
good ;  and  I  die  in  perfect  composure  and  resignation 
to  the  will  of  my  Creator — God." 

Thus  the  great  revolutionist  passed  away.  Like 
all  great  men,  he  lived  a  virtuous,  upright  life.  He  had 
a  noble  object  in  view,  and  labored  manfully  to  ac- 
complish it.  But  having  done  his  work  well,  his  ene- 
mies have  added  to  his  fame  by  trying  to  undo  what 
time  has  approved,  and  by  reviling  him  when  nature 
has  applauded. 

CONCLUSION. 

Thomas  Paine  is  now  placed  right  before  the  world. 
He  was  peculiarly  a  favored  child  of  nature.  The 
great  strokes  of  his  character  are  these :  A  s[>irit  to  re- 
sent an  injury  which  made  him  sometimes  revengeful 
and  vindictive.  Yet  a  friend  in  his  defense  could  call 
upon  him  for  his  life,  and  it  would  be  granted.  Too 
proud  to  be  vain,  he  rose  above  the  common  level  in 
personal  honor,  and  demanded  that  the  character  of  a 
nation  should  be  without  spot.  Benevolent  beyond 
his  means,  he  lived  like  a  miser,  that  be  might  have 
wherewith  to  bestow  upon  the  needy,  whether  man, 
woman,  child,  or  country. 

Secretive  beyond   estimate,  he  lived  a  perfect  spy 


THOMAS  PAINIPS  LIFE,  321 

upon  the  world,  and  obtained  from  friend  and  foe, 
from  society  and  government,  what  they  wished  to 
conceal,  and  stored  away  facts  which  he  locked  up  in 
his  own  mind  to  be  used  if  needed,  or  everlastingly 
kept.  He  was  too  hopeful  to  estimate  the  future  cor- 
rectly, and  had  too  much  faith  in  man  to  judge  cor- 
rectly of  his  actions.  Yet  character  he  scarcely  ever 
misjudged.  As  for  courage,  he  dared  to  do  any  thing 
that  was  right.  He  dared  to  think  like  a  philosopher, 
and  to  act  like  a  man.  Intellectually  he  was  a  prod- 
igy ;  and  as  for  genius^  under  which  I  combine  the 
constructive  analytic  and  imaginative  faculties  the 
world  has  never  seen  his  equal.  He  was,  in  short,  an 
artist,  inventor,  scholar,  poet,  philosopher,  enemy  and 
friend.  These  mental  characteristics  were  so  combined 
and  regulated  by  his  will,  that  nature  could  never  re- 
peat what  she  produced  in  Thomas  Paine. 

I  have  faithfully  followed  the  lines  of  nature  in  this 
criticism,  and  have  endeavored  to  produce  a  work 
which  the  student  and  statesman  can  study  with  profit; 
which  the  lawyer  may  consider  as  an  argument;  which 
will  arrest  the  attention  of  the  historian,  and  present 
new  themes  to  the  mind  of  the  philosopher;  one  which 
will  open  up  a  new  method  for  the  critic,  and  in  all 
these  a  work  which  the  scholar  will  not  despise.  This 
I  sav  without  vanity.  Mine  indeed  are  humble  labors; 
and  my  work,  whatever  it  is,  has  not  been  laborious 
and  artful,  but  easy  and  natural. 

I  have  not  written  this  to  make  proselytes  to  his 
religion,  but  to  do  a  much  injured  man  a  good  service. 
Yet,  as  hero-worship  is  a  part  of  man's  nature,  it  may 
not  be  improbable  that  one  age  will  extol  what  a  pre- 


322  CONQL  USION. 

vious  one  reviled,  and  a  temple  be  erected  to  the 
religion  of  a  man  who  was  once  thought  to  be  a  devil. 
This  reminds  me  of  a  story  which  long  ago  I  remember 
of  reading  in  a  volume  of  the  Letters  of  the  Turkish 
Spy;  and  as  I  quote  from  memory  I  will  give  only 
the  substance : 

Two  hundred  years  ago,  somewhere  in  Spain,  in 
front  of  a  Christian  house  of  worship,  stood  a  statue. 
This  was  the  black  image  of  a  man  sitting  on  an  ass. 
As  each  pious  devotee  passed  in  to  worship,  or  came 
out  therefrom,  he  spat  upon  the  statue.  But  a  Mussul- 
man embassador  coming  from  the  king  of  Morocco, 
observing  these  rites,  which  he  was  told  had  been 
performed  for  centuries,  asked  the  king  why  they 
treated  this  image  with  such  insult.  He  was  told  it 
was  the  image  of  Mahomet.  The  follower  of  Mahomet, 
being  better  informed,  replied  :  This  can  not  be,  for 
Mahomet  rode  always  on  camels,  and  it  was  Jesus 
Christ  who,  it  is  recorded,  rode  on  an  ass.  This  fact 
was  soon  confirmed  by  the  priests,  and  thereupon  the 
people  took  to  kissing  and  worshiping  what  they  had 
before  insultingly  spat  upon,  and  afterward  erected  a 
temple  where  it  stood  in  honor  of  it. 


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